Desert Rose
by finnstardust
Summary: Elizabeth's holiday in Australia turns into a nightmare but a handsome stranger is there to save her...JohnLiz AU.
1. Chapter 1

I love SGA AU fics so thought I'd try to write one. It's John/Liz as always and slightly inspired by the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which is one of my favourite films. Feedback is adored!

* * *

The battle was over before it even really began.

She couldn't fully comprehend it. One moment she was being slowly lulled into slumber by the gentle rocking motion of the horse walking steadily beneath her; the next her world was filled with noises of panic, gunshots and screams and she made painful contact with the ground. The horse, until that moment the gentlest animal she had known, had violently thrown her off and fallen on its side next to her, struggling to get back up, legs kicking dangerously close to her head. She ducked, spitting dust from her mouth and peering into the darkening night to make some sense of what was happening around her.

Someone screamed and another sequence of gunshots erupted, very close this time. She saw several figures lying on the ground but couldn't tell who they were, or if they were alive. A horse passed her on full speed; it wasn't hers but she recognized it nevertheless. It was the brown one with kind eyes. The one Simon had been riding on. Where was he?

She dragged herself to her knees and winced at the pain that laced through her leg. She pressed a hand on it and found no blood; it had likely been injured during the fall. Grinding her teeth to will the pain away, she slowly made her way to the nearest person lying on the ground. The gunshots had ceased and the night was calm once more. She couldn't get her head around what had happened.

The figure on the ground let out a low moan and she dropped on her knees next to it, her eyes widening in horror. "Maria?"

Another painful sound escaped the woman's lips. "Elizabeth?"

"I'm here. You'll be all right."

Even when she said the words, she knew she was lying; the jeans and white vest her friend had been wearing were saturated with blood. She had been hit by several bullets.

Maria swallowed. "What…what happened?"

"I don't know. I really don't know." Elizabeth struggled out of her sweater and manoeuvred it under Maria's head. "I'm going to check on the others. Lay still, OK; I'll be right back."

Ignoring the pains that were shooting up her leg, she dragged herself to the others, from one person to the next, desperately hoping to find them alive. By the time she got her fingers to the neck of the man lying furthest from her, however, all hopes had diminished.

Where was Simon? She had counted all the dead and found everyone in her party except for him, herself, Maria and another woman, whom she hadn't got to know that well. Forcing back the tears stinging behind her eyes, she made her way back to Maria and found her much worse than before; she couldn't hold on much longer.

"Did you…find them?" Maria managed to whisper and she nodded, wiping away the tears and gently brushing blonde hair from the other woman's forehead.

"Don't talk. Save your strength."

Maria smiled and moaned in pain again. "There's nothing to save it for, Elizabeth. I'm dying; I know that much."

"No!" She shook her head forcefully. "No, you're not. You'll be fine and we'll get out of here."

"Elizabeth", she sighed. "You will, and you should go. They may come back."

"I'm not leaving you."

Maria turned her eyes away from her and looked up to the sky. Stars were shining brightly and it was almost full moon; it felt impossible that such a beautiful night was now full of blood and death.

"You never really see the stars…in the city", she said quietly, coughing a little. "Listen, do me a favour."

Elizabeth couldn't stop tears flowing to her face now. "Anything."

"When you get back…tell my parents what happened. And Rob…take care of him, OK?"

"I promise." She sniffed. "This is all my fault. I wanted to come here and I wanted you to come with me. If I hadn't…

"Shh." Maria took a shuddering breath. "I wanted to come. And it was lovely. All the way to the end. Liz…"

"Yeah?" She didn't even notice her friend use the nickname she hated.

"Take care of yourself. Promise me. You work too much. And Simon…"

Elizabeth tensed. "What about him?"

Maria smiled faintly. "You know what I think of him. I know there's someone better out there for you."

"Well", she let out a chuckle, nearly choking on her tears. "I couldn't find him. I don't know if he's dead or alive."

"I'm sure he's fine." Maria's eyes closed. "Promise me."

"I'll take care of myself, I promise."

"Good."

Elizabeth pulled the cardigan gently out under Maria's head, a fresh flood of tears falling as she looked at her friend's face, now so peaceful, her life force violently robbed from her.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart", she whispered, pressing a kiss onto her forehead. "I'm sorry."

* * *

She couldn't walk. That dawned on her the moment she rose from Maria's body and tried to take a few steps to the direction the horses had escaped to. Falling back down, she let out a frustrated moan and pounded the ground with her fist. In five minutes she had gone from heaven to hell and now here she was, in the middle of the desert, unable to move and with enough water to last one day, if even that. She wasn't that worried about food but water was at the essence here. Her best friend was dead; her boyfriend was nowhere to be seen and to be honest, she didn't have a clue where she was.

She tried to remember what the group leader had said minutes before they'd been attacked; something about the campsite not being very far away. But even if she found that, it wouldn't be much good without all the equipment that had been strapped onto the horses. Her backpack had some water, the remainders of the lunch she'd eaten earlier, sunscreen and a guidebook of Australia; that one would not be very useful right now unless she used it to keep a fire going.

Her first proper holiday in years had not supposed to turn out like this. She had chosen Australia, just because she had never been there and had always wanted to; she had chosen to go on this five-day camping trip because she wanted to test if she could still ride a horse. And because it had sounded like an amazing adventure. Which was exactly what it had been until now.

Shaking her head, she let out a hysterical laughter, completely unsuitable for this situation. She was in shock; that much she realized. The next thing that came to her was the bitter coldness that had crept up on her unnoticed. She had to find shelter and start a fire and soon, if she wished to live to see the morning.

* * *

Elizabeth jerked awake, for a moment completely unaware of where she was or what had happened, until everything flooded back to her. It was morning, the sky bright blue and the sun high and hot. For a moment she was sure it was laughing at her derisively, robbing her of any chance she had of making it out of here.

She had managed to find something like a cave after dragging herself along as well as she could, alternating between hopping on one leg and crawling. She had been quite sure last night, and definitely now that she nowhere near any kind of civilization. All she could see was sand and the distant outline of a rain forest not too far away. Unless it was a hallucination; that wouldn't have surprised her.

Elizabeth carefully tested her leg; it was still very sore but she could place a little more weight on it. If she managed to get to the forest, she'd have to find a sturdy enough branch to use as a kind of a walking stick. Then again, she wasn't sure which would be safer, wandering into the forest or staying out here where there was a better chance of somebody finding her. They had been in the beginning on the trip which meant it would take days before anyone would be worried about them.

She took a sip of water and ate the remainders of her sandwich left over from the day before. Where and when the next meal would come, she didn't know and didn't even want to allow herself to think about it. She was not a depression-prone person, but with everything that had happened the day before, she knew that trying to keep her spirits high was very, very important. There was a part of her that wondered, a lot, about why she had been the one to survive, why the bullets hadn't hit her like the rest of her companions.

Before leaving the others, Elizabeth had crawled around a little more, looking for Simon, calling his name until her voice had gone; there was nothing. He must have managed to catch one of the horses and escaped, that or been killed somewhere further away. It bothered her less than she cared to confess and she frowned; it wasn't like her to think like this. Simon had been in her life for a good ten years now, first as a friend, then as a lover and he had been important to her. She didn't know why she couldn't bring herself to care more about him right now.

The heat of the sun started really getting to her after a few hours of forcing herself to keep moving, and the forest didn't seem to be coming any closer. She realized now it had probably been a mistake to leave the cave; she didn't think she'd have enough strength to make her way back and there wasn't much of water left. The sunscreen she had slathered on her face and bare arms was doing nothing against the blazing sun and she could feel the skin starting to burn.

"I don't think this trip was a very good idea", Elizabeth whispered to herself, dropping to her knees. "Not a good idea at all."

She needed to pick herself up, needed to keep going but her knees gave in every time she tried and finally she abandoned her futile attempts. Expecting her life to start flashing in front of her eyes any minute now, she dropped down to her back on the hot sand, bringing the water bottle to her lips to drain the few remaining drops of liquid just before her eyes closed and she could feel herself drifting away.

And that was where John Sheppard found her.

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	2. Chapter 2

OK, here's the second chapter - thanks for the reviews! Suicune1000 - I know it's a bit weird but hang in there, I'm not sure where the story is going yet but all will be explained in due time. I have never been to Australia and have no clue about geography or any other things really so I hope this story doesn't offend anyone. Enjoy and if you like, please review!

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John had no idea if the woman was still alive, or how long she had been out here in the desert. He had caught sight of her falling as he'd been riding just on the outskirts of the forest and it took him a while to get to her. Muttering something about stupid tourists he dismounted his horse and crouched down next to her. Making a face at the sunburn along her arms and face, he got his fingers on the artery in her neck and breathed a sigh of relief as they found a faint beat. She was unconscious, weak as a kitten but she was alive.

He grasped the green sweater she had tied around her waist and covered her arms with it, just then noticing the stains of blood on the material.

"What are you doing here?" he mumbled, preparing to lift her up. "And what's happened to you?"

She responded to him with a low moan and he glanced at her face; her eyes were struggling open. For a moment they stared up at him, very large and very green, before closing again as she drifted back into unconsciousness. John sighed and lifted her up onto the horse's back.

"All right, Jazz", he collected the reins and swung himself up, behind the woman, grabbing her securely by the waist. "We have to be careful now so that we don't drop her."

The horse pulled at the reins as if agreeing with him and he turned it around to head back towards the forest.

He placed her down on a blanket in the cave he'd been sleeping in for the past few nights and got some water from a nearby stream, moistening some pieces of cloth and placing them on her face and arms to relieve the sunburn. The water was crystal clear and freezing cold and she reacted to it even when unconscious, writhing a little to get away from the uncomfortable feeling.

John leaned back on his heels and watched her, dark curls plastered over her face and neck, skin only slightly tanned on those areas that hadn't been burned by the merciless sun. An array of freckles covered her nose and parts of her cheeks, telling him it didn't take much for her skin to burn. He glanced at the label of her sweater and recognized the American brand. For what he could tell, she was a tourist who had somehow got lost from her company; it happened a lot around here and not many were as lucky as she was. The Australian outback was legendarily dangerous for the inexperienced.

His radio phone crackled. "Mr. Sheppard?"

John placed a fresh, cool cloth on the woman's forehead and rose to pick up the radio. "Yes, Nick?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I thought you should know this."

"It's OK, go ahead."

"The men and I went to check the fences this morning and found some horses not of the ranch; these were fully saddled and equipped for a camping trip."

John frowned. "Any idea of who they belong to?"

"None. I was about to drive to Alice Springs; see if anyone knows of them."

"All right, go ahead. I'll probably be back earlier than expected, something's come up. Let me know what you find out."

"I'll do that."

He lowered the radio, glancing at the woman. He was quite sure the horses had something to do with her; after all, his ranch wasn't too far from here, they could easily have covered the distance in a day or so. He had no idea, however, of what had happened to part the horses from their riders; usually it was the tourists whose cars had broken down that were left stranded in the desert.

John glanced outside of the cave: the sun was setting, painting the landscape red. "Come on, don't you think it's time to wake up now? I'm kind of curious to know what you're doing here and you're not much fun to talk to when you're out."

The woman didn't even twitch and he sighed, placing another cool cloth on her forehead and walking out to find wood to start a fire.

* * *

At first Elizabeth thought she was dreaming, either that or she had really died and gone to heaven. The last memory she had was falling down to the burning sand and now she was lying here, on a soft, comfortable blanket in some sort of a shadowed cave. Her face and arms felt like they were on fire but there was a feeling of coolness on her forehead. Raising her hand to see what it was, she found a dampened cloth. Who had put it there and what had happened?

She struggled into a sitting position and winced at the weakness she felt all over her body. Looking around, she noticed a clothing bag, several large bottles of water and food supplies. Horrible images of being kidnapped by an axe murderer flashed in her mind and she tried to force herself to her feet.

"Hey, hey, take it easy." A deep voice from the entrance of the cave interrupted her struggles and she glanced up, hair falling over her tender face.

"Aww." Hurriedly pushing it away, she doubled her efforts and managed to get up, only to promptly fall back down when her injured leg gave way under her.

"Here." The man handed her a bottle of water. "Careful, don't drink too much. You're pretty badly dehydrated."

Elizabeth took a big sip, her eyes never leaving the man's face. At first glance, he didn't seem like an axe murderer but she wasn't about to trust a complete stranger after what had happened to her friends.

"Have you injured your leg?" The man took a step closer, reaching his hand towards her knee and she jumped, spilling water all over her. "I'm not going to hurt you, there's nothing to worry about, OK? Just let me see your leg."

"I'm fine." Her voice croaked, like she hadn't used it in a long time. "Stay away from me."

The stranger lifted his hands. "All right, all right. I'm going to sit down here", he motioned to the other end of the blanket from her, "and I'm just going to talk to you. Is that OK?"

She watched as he took a seat, not saying anything.

"Could you tell me your name?" He decided to start with the basics, if she was suffering from amnesia he didn't want to push her too much. He hadn't seen any head trauma on her but he didn't have all the details.

She swallowed and hesitated, before deciding there probably was no harm in introductions. "Elizabeth. Elizabeth Weir."

The man nodded. "Nice to meet you, Elizabeth. I'm John Sheppard, I found you from the desert earlier this afternoon. Would you like to tell me what has happened to you?"

She stiffened noticeably, looking away and he hurried to speak. "That's OK, we don't need to talk about it right now. I would like to know, however, if you or any of your company had horses with you."  
Elizabeth frowned. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"There is a possibility they have shown up at my ranch about 50 miles from here; my head manager told me they'd found some this morning. He was just about to leave for Alice Springs to see if he could find anything out."

She cleared her throat, a hesitant look in her eyes. "That's where we set out from. Alice Springs."

John nodded. "Were you with the touring company?"

"Yes."

"All right." He had found out enough for now; she was obviously very weak still and didn't trust him. "Are you hungry?"

"A little." She watched as he got up from the blanket, walking to the food supplies. "Um…Mr Sheppard?"

"Please call me John." He flashed her a grin which she was sure had captured a fair share of hearts and almost made her forget he was a stranger and she should be wary of him. But only almost.

"John. Is there…do you know if your manager found any people?"

John shook his head. "I'm sorry, he didn't mention anything about that."

"OK." She lowered her gaze and sighed. A part of her had been hoping Simon might have somehow made it to the ranch, but apparently he hadn't been that lucky.

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Sorry for the shortness of this chapter - the next ones will be longer, I promise!


	3. Chapter 3

Here's chapter 3 - sorry for the wait. Keep reading & reviewing!

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Elizabeth moved the food around in her plate; it was good but she couldn't bring herself to eat much. John watched her, slightly worried, not knowing if she wasn't eating because of some kind of a shock or the combined effects of the burns and her leg injury. He wished she'd allow him to look at it, in case it was anything serious that required urgent medical attention. 

"You don't have to eat if you don't want to", he offered gently. "Just make sure you drink water, OK? It will take a while for your body to recuperate."

"I'm sorry", she sighed. "This is good, it really is. I'm just…"

"It's all right, I'm not offended. How are you feeling?"

Elizabeth shrugged.

"Still worried I'm going to attack you when you sleep?"

She glanced at him, surprised and John smiled. "You seemed somewhat…untrusting before. I don't blame you, though, out here it's a valuable survival skill. But listen, I swear you're safe with me. When you feel better, I'll take you to the ranch and my housekeeper Lorraine can nurse you back to full health. I take it you're American?"

"I am, yes."

"You're here on holiday?"

She nodded. "My return flight is in a couple of weeks, we were going to fly to Sydney after this. I guess that won't happen."

"Well, it depends on how you'll recover. I think you can still make your flight back to the US and Sydney will always be there. We won't know anything until a doctor has assessed your injuries, but I would still like to take a look at your leg, just to know if we need to leave first thing tomorrow morning."

She was still hesitant, not scared of him anymore but still unsure of letting him near her, letting him touch her. But her leg was aching terribly now and she was really getting worried it was badly injured.

"Go ahead then."

He nodded, moving closer to her on the blanket and gently lifted her leg to his lap. She had taken off her shoes before and was wearing a pair of loose-fitting pants that had been an excellent choice for this trip, being made of light fabric while still protecting her from the sun. John pushed them up to her knees, noticing her legs were very long and slender, but one of them was somewhat badly swollen and bruised.

"OK, can you tell me where it hurts the most?"

She made a face. "My ankle…but it sort of radiates up to the knee."

John carefully touched her ankle, slowly moving it in little circles and she inhaled sharply.

"Does that hurt?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I don't think it's broken and the circulation is fine", he said, fingers moving upwards on her leg. She determinedly ignored the shivers the touch caused in her, putting it down to the pain and shock instead of the fact that a good-looking man was gently touching her leg.

"It's probably just a bad sprain but you need to stay off it a few days at least. I'm afraid I don't have any painkillers with me but I'll get a doctor to look at it as soon as we get to the ranch."

Elizabeth nodded and he pulled the pant leg back down.

"So…when are we leaving?"

"I'm not sure. It's not that far considering the usual distances around here but it's still too long to walk. I'll radio the ranch in the morning for somebody to come and get us, as Jazz isn't going to be able to carry the both of us plus the supplies."

She glanced at him. "Jazz?"

"My horse."

"Oh." She smiled a little. "You have a lot of them?"

"Horses? Around hundred at the moment, give or take a few. Jazz is one of the best, I've raised many but he's special."

Elizabeth looked down, still smiling. "Of course. I like jazz. The music, I mean."

"You'll like the horse too, once you meet him." John rose from the blanket and added some wood to the fire.

She watched the flames dancing on his face and was struck by how romantic this situation could have been. Alone with a gorgeous man in a cave in the Australian outback, warm and comfortable except for her injuries. For a moment she could forget the horrors of the previous day, losing her best friend and probably her boyfriend as well, but she knew that sooner or later the horrible grief and emptiness would strike her again. She leaned back on her elbows and sighed, wondering if John's hair stuck up to all directions on its own. He didn't seem like the type who spent ages in front of a mirror each morning trying to get it just right.

"What?"

His voice startled her and she realized he had caught her staring.

"Nothing. Sorry. I was just thinking."

"Something important?"

"Yeah…well, not really." She was grateful for the darkness of the cave which hid the slight blush that had risen to her cheeks.

"Hmm." John glanced at her quizzically but focused on the fire. "For a moment there I was sure you were blushing."

Her eyes widened and he flashed that grin of his again. "But I'm sure it was just your face being red from the sun."

"So seeing in the dark is one of your talents?" She shot back, slightly mortified.

John shrugged. "Yeah, out here one tends to need that talent." He abandoned the fire and took a seat by her feet again. "I've also been told I'm a reasonably good listener. In fact, I've had more drunken women give me their life stories than I care to account for. So I was kind of hoping you'd like to…talk to me."

She looked away. "Talk to you about what?" She knew very well what he meant.

If he was frustrated with her, he hid it extremely well. "Well, I'd like to know why I found an American tourist all alone in the middle of a desert with a blood-stained sweater tied around her. I'm not accusing you of anything, I just want to know who I'm about to bring to my ranch."

She had forgotten about Maria's blood on the sweater and sadness lifted its head again. "You don't have to bring me anywhere. Leave me here if you're so worried."

John sighed. "Elizabeth, you wouldn't survive here. Maybe for a couple of days you'd be OK, but when the immediate food and water supply had run out, you'd get into trouble. Unless you're used to jungle life, which I very much doubt."

"You don't know anything about me so I'd rather not have you assuming things."

"Come on, Elizabeth, you have an expensive air about you; your clothes are clearly not from a second-hand market and that piece of jewellery is not cheap either."

She glanced at the diamond bracelet around her wrist and crossed her arms defensively to hide it.

"It was a gift."

"I am not accusing you of stealing it." There was a hint of annoyance in his voice now. "All I'm saying is that you're probably used to a comfortable living, likely someone who's accustomed to working and living indoors. You wouldn't last a day in the jungle."

"Fine, you've made your point!" Elizabeth was getting slightly hysterical. "Why can't you see I don't want to talk about it? I haven't killed anyone, I can vouch for that but I can't…it's too painful."

John frowned but dropped the subject, seeing the look of sheer panic on her face. "Calm down. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you."

She wrapped her arms around herself. "What are you doing here anyway? Why are you here in the middle of nowhere and not at your ranch with your horses?"

A slightly pained look crossed his face before he smiled. "I needed a break."

"Why?"

John sighed. "The horses and I got bored of each other."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, John."

"It's a long story, one that I'm far too tired to start unravelling now. I come here occasionally, when I need space and time to think. I wasn't expecting this, though."

"I'm sorry for interrupting your little holiday." She knew she sounded mean, was being completely unfair towards the man who had saved her life but the words seemed to escape her mouth before she could control them. John merely smiled and reached past her for a sleeping bag.

"I'm sure you are. Here, I'm sure you're beat."

She took the bag. "What about you? Do you have another one of these?"

"Don't worry about me." He pulled a blanket from the clothing back. "I'm used to sleeping in uncomfortable conditions."

She eyed him for a moment before manoeuvring herself into the sleeping back. "Well, thank you. For everything."

He smiled. "You're welcome, Elizabeth Weir. Sleep well."

She lay awake for a long time after John had fallen asleep, thinking and wondering about her situation, hoping he was really asleep and couldn't hear her quiet sobs as tears rolled down her face and the fire slowly died down to a soft amber glow.

* * *

Elizabeth woke to the sound of John talking quietly on the radiophone and stretched her limbs, grimacing slightly at the pain that shot through her stiffened ankle. At a closer look, it was perhaps a little less swollen than the day before but it still hurt like hell. 

John turned his head and noticed she was awake, slightly nodding his head. "Thanks, Ronan, I appreciate it. I'll see you tomorrow then. Sheppard out."

He lowered the phone from his hand. "Good morning. Slept well?"

She shrugged. "OK. Who's Ronan?"

"Ronan Dex, my right-hand man over at the ranch. He's the main caretaker of the horses and also runs things while I'm away. He's going to send somebody to come and get us."

"That's kind of him", she muttered, rubbing her leg and drawing a worried glance from him.

"Does it still hurt?"

She nodded mutely, watching as he repeated the previous night's examination on her leg.

"We'll get going tomorrow morning and I've asked for a doctor to be there to meet us. Do you think you can handle the pain for one more day?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath and slowly counted to ten, pressing her eyes shut until the worst wave of pain subsided. "Yeah. I'll have to, right?"

John smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid so. I didn't think of bringing any painkillers; they've never been needed before. I guess I'll know better from now on."

"So you think you'll get into a situation like this again?" Elizabeth stood up carefully, using the wall as a support to make her way to the entrance of the cave. It was very hot again; the sky breathtakingly blue and it would have been so beautiful to her in different circumstances.

She thought of the bodies of the other members in her company, lying on the desert; sooner or later she'd have to talk about what had happened so they could be brought back to their families. Before leaving she had moved Maria's body to shelter from the burning sun the best that she could; the thought of her friend being unrecognizable to her loved ones terrified her and she knew what damage the sun could do, not to mention any animals that could possibly be on the hunt for food.

"You'll never know", John's voice startled her back to reality. "You're certainly not the first one to get lost around here."

She knew she was exceptionally lucky for having him there and someday she'd really have to think of a way to thank him for saving her life. Now, however, the words just didn't come.

The beautiful black horse standing outside the cave turned its head and looked at her with kind brown eyes. She smiled, slowly making her way over and offering her hand for the horse to sniff.

"Hello, Jazz", she said quietly, gently scratching the horse's forehead and laughing as he leaned his head forward to rest it on her shoulder.

"Thought you two would get along." John nodded approvingly. "You like horses?"

"I love them. He's beautiful." Elizabeth gave the horse a final pat and walked further to see more of their surroundings.

It really was beautiful; the greenery of the forest against the blue sky, the hum of a small waterfall nearby mixing with the sounds of the jungle. She carefully leaned down to touch the water and flinched at how cold it was. Splashing it on her face, she instantly felt invigorated and for one precious moment it seemed to wash away her troubles.

"You should stay off that leg." John was in the process of boiling water when she made her way back, exhausted even though it had been such a short distance. It seemed that the injuries and dehydration had stripped her from her strength very efficiently because in normal circumstances she regarded herself as someone in a good physical condition.

"I know. I just wanted to take a look around. You wouldn't have any coffee in there by any chance?" She took a hopeful glance towards the food supplies and he grinned.

"You're in luck. It's instant and a far cry from the real stuff, but it's something." He handed her a cup and she inhaled deeply at the rich aroma.

"I'm eternally grateful for this, no matter what it is." She took a sip, closing her eyes in enjoyment and he laughed.

"Coffee addict?"

"You could say so." She watched him over the rim of the cup. "You know, you don't sound Australian to me."

"That's because I'm not." He took a sip from his own cup. "I'm American, born and raised in Seattle, Washington. I bought the ranch nearly ten years ago and have been living here full-time for the past five."

"Why?"

John shrugged. "I needed a new place. New people, an adventure. And I was married to an Australian."

For some reason, hearing that had a negative effect on her mood. "You're married?"

"I was." He frowned, the pained look crossing his face again. "I don't really want to talk about it. It's over."

"OK." She really shouldn't have felt this happy for something that was obviously difficult for him. Mentally slapping herself, she took another sip. "But you chose to stay here…even after it ended?"

John smiled slightly. "Yeah. To be honest, I'm not sure I could go back anymore. This is more my kind of life, you know, more freedom, I can decide what I want to do. There's nobody to hassle me and I get to raise horses and enjoy these gorgeous views day in and day out."

The passion in his eyes had her momentarily speechless. This was obviously a man who had found his place in life, his roots, somewhere to enjoy life to the fullest. If only she'd someday be as lucky.

"Do you have any children?" The words were out of her mind before she could stop them and she grimaced; she had no right to be so curious about a man she had only met the day before. John didn't seem to mind, however, shaking his head.

"No. You?"

"No. Not yet, anyway."

"But you're planning to?" His voice held a mild interest, like he was asking only to be polite, to make small talk with her. It saddened her.

"I hope so…someday. I haven't found…I don't think I have found the right man yet." She was, in fact, sure she hadn't: her relationship with Simon had been fizzling out even before this trip and now that it was very likely he was dead she'd have to start all over again with someone else. The one good thing about her relationship with Simon had been the establishment, the security brought on by a long time with the same person, the fact they knew each other inside and out. Getting to that point with someone else seemed lightyears away at that moment.

"Well, I'm sure you will. Want more coffee?"

Briefly she wondered if there was anyone new in his life at the moment, after his wife and came to the conclusion there had to be: a man with John's looks and caring nature was unlikely to be single for long.

"Elizabeth?"

"Hmm?" She snapped out of her thoughts and found him looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "No, thanks. I'm good."

A small smile graced his lips but he refrained from commenting on her drifting away, instead removing the kettle and throwing another branch of wood into the fire.

* * *

When he caught her crying later that evening, she knew her time was up. 

She had tried to be discreet about it, to make sure he had dozed off after their dinner before giving in to the tears that had been threatening to fall all afternoon. He had managed to fool her, however, and when she realized his eyes were open and looking straight into hers, it was already too late.

For a moment John looked shocked, like he wasn't sure what to do about her face that was glistening with tears, illuminated by the flames, or her body that was shaking with each powerful sob. Crying women weren't his forte, like most men, he found it difficult to deal with a display of emotions, especially from someone who was still nearly a complete stranger to him.

"Elizabeth?"

He sat up on the blanket and reached for her, not sure what to do with his hand until it landed on her knee. "Are you in pain?"

She shook her head, sniffing, hastily wiping away the tears.

John cleared his throat. "Listen, I realize we don't know each other yet and you probably don't trust me at all but I'm willing to listen if you want to talk about anything."

She closed her eyes briefly. "I do trust you. I owe you my life and I don't know how to thank you."

"Don't worry about that." He squeezed her knee softly. "It was my pleasure."

Elizabeth smiled through her tears. "I'm not sure if you'll hate me after I tell you what happened to me."

He frowned. "Why would I hate you?"

Another wave of tears shook her. "Because I should have done something more."

John looked puzzled. "OK, you lost me there. Something more about what?"

She took a shaky breath. "We were attacked. I…I don't know who they were but they were shooting at us and…they hit my best friend and all the others except…" She broke off and swallowed.

He was shocked, to put it mildly. "OK, so your party was shot at. Where are the others?"

"They're all dead", she whispered, staring into nothing. "My best friend died in my arms and I couldn't help her. I could do nothing but watch."

"My God", he muttered. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. I know you must feel horrible but out here it's nearly impossible to help a gunshot victim even if you have a doctor with you."

"We did", she said with a broken voice. "My boyfriend is…was a doctor."

"Your boyfriend was shot too?" He rubbed his face; no wonder she was so sad and distraught after experiencing those kinds of horrors.

"I don't know. I couldn't find him. I called him until my voice broke but he wasn't there. His body wasn't there on the ground with the others; I don't know where he is. There was another woman as well I didn't find but I didn't know her that well."

"So that's why you asked me if anyone had shown up at the ranch?"

She nodded.

"I'm afraid no one has; I spoke to Ronan about it. What about the horses, do you know if he managed to hold on to one?"

"I saw the one he was riding afterwards so I don't think so."

"OK." He frowned, trying to think. "I have heard of the occasional shootings on the desert, there are some people who live there and don't welcome tourists with open arms. They do sometimes take people hostage as well. The problem is I have no idea where to start looking for them."

Elizabeth wiped her tears away. "I don't really care. I know that sounds horrible but my main concern right now is to get Maria's body home to her family. Simon…I do want to know what happened to him but I owe it to Maria to concentrate on her."

"Maria? Is that your best friend?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Yeah. We've known each other…ever since we were kids. I can't believe she's gone."

"I'm sorry." He released her knee and reached for her hand instead. "We'll go and get her, I promise. I'll radio Ronan right now and tell him to send more men. I want you to go to the ranch in the car but I'll make sure we'll retrieve the bodies, OK?"

She nodded, smiling a little through her tears. "Thank you, John."

"Don't mention it." He gave her hand a final squeeze and got up to find the radiophone.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

On to the next chapter...I can hopefully work on this story over the Christmas break, that is if anyone wants to read more (?) Please review and tell me what you think!

* * *

It was nearly midday when she heard voices from outside the cave. John had gone out earlier to meet the party that had been sent to get them and now it seemed they'd finally get on the move.

"Elizabeth?" He ducked back to the cave. "This is Teyla Emmagan, one of my assistants. She'll take you back to the ranch. Teyla, Elizabeth Weir."

"Nice to meet you." Elizabeth nodded to the younger woman who was very beautiful with dark skin and dark eyes, light brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail.

"It's my pleasure, Miss Weir. John mentioned you had injured your leg, do you mind if I take a look?"

"No, go ahead." Elizabeth glanced at John who smiled.

"Teyla has some medical expertise, so don't worry."

"I would not call it expertise", the other woman said, gently rotating Elizabeth's ankle. "Carson arrived last night; he could not accompany me but he did give me some instructions. He'll take care of your leg once we get to the ranch."

"How long is the drive?" Elizabeth was grateful when Teyla released her leg and as the other woman didn't look terribly worried, she concluded the injury mustn't have been that bad.

Teyla shrugged. "Five, six hours."

"With the way you drive, that is. Most of us take around seven but Teyla is quite…heavy-footed on the gas."

Teyla shot John a look which didn't escape Elizabeth's attention and briefly she wondered if there was something else than assistantship going on between the two.

"I assure you, Miss Weir, you'll be safe with me."

"I believe you. And please, it's Elizabeth."

Teyla nodded and started collecting the food supplies from the ground to the bag she had with her. "John, if you wouldn't mind helping Elizabeth to the car; I'd like to get going somewhat soon. Darkness falls earlier every day."

"Of course." John took Elizabeth's hand and pulled her up. "Lean on me and stay off that leg."

His arm around her waist felt very comforting and she leaned against his strong body, her heart rate picking up a little at his closeness.

The three men standing outside the cave cut off their conversation and turned to look at them as they appeared.

"Elizabeth Weir; Ronan Dex, Nick Holmes and Aiden Ford", John made quick introductions and the men nodded at her. "Miss Weir."

"Elizabeth", she said, somewhat taken back by Ronan's appearance. He was well over six feet tall, muscular and broad-chested, his dark hair on dreadlocks. While his appearance may have been scary at first, his face and smile were very friendly, and she knew instantly he was someone she could trust. Aiden was a younger man, dark-skinned like Teyla and seemed eager to assist John in getting Elizabeth to the car. Nick opened the door for her, touching the rim of his hat as a greeting.

"Elizabeth, I returned from Alice Springs yesterday; the horses that showed up at the ranch did indeed belong to your party. I'm afraid we haven't found any people, however, and no one had returned to the city either. They promised to send your belongings immediately."

Elizabeth nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Holmes. I understand."

"Please call me Nick. And it's a pleasure to meet you." Nick retreated back to the other cars and John turned his attention to her.

"Are you comfortable? I hope the drive won't be too much for your leg and Carson will be there to meet you immediately, OK? I'm going with Ronan, Aiden and Nick to retrieve the bodies but I'll see you later tonight or tomorrow morning."

She nodded. "Thank you, John."

Teyla arrived to the car, placing the bags to the back seat. "Are we ready?"

"Yeah." John closed the door and gave her a small smile. "I'll see you soon. Drive safely."

"Do I not always do so?"

John rolled his eyes, declining from answering and Elizabeth watched as he effortlessly swung himself on Jazz's back. She had given him information about where the bodies were the best she could the night before and sincerely hoped she had been correct as she couldn't recognize the direction they'd come to the cave from.

"OK, please tell me if at any point you are uncomfortable and we'll stop, Elizabeth." Teyla turned on the car and steered it after the others. Elizabeth nodded and leaned her head back against the headrest; she'd have to trust Teyla to know the way as all she could see ahead was desert.

* * *

Elizabeth fell asleep about an hour into the drive and when she woke up it was nearly dark, the headlights of the car were on and still all she could see was sand.

"How long have I been sleeping?"

Teyla turned her head to glance at her. "About four hours. We're nearly there; I'm beating my own record."

"How can you possibly know which direction to go? This isn't exactly a road."

"I know", Teyla said simply. "There is nothing to worry about. I am used to finding my way in the desert."

"That's not it, I do trust you, it's just…" She shook her head a little; it was difficult to explain how she now was afraid of the sand, the desert, the loneliness of the outback.

"I understand." Teyla pointed ahead of her to the horizon. "See those lights? That's where the ranch is. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"And the others?"

"They'll probably be back tonight as well. Normally they would stop for the night but under these circumstances…"

"John told you?"

"Yes", the other woman nodded. "I truly am very sorry for what you had to go through, Elizabeth. These things…they don't happen often but they are a disgrace of this country, and any other. I hope we will be able to find your boyfriend and catch the people who did this but you have to understand that this is a vast land, the chances are not the best ones possible."

"I understand." Elizabeth sat up straighter as the lights strengthened and she caught the first glimpse of the large main building, on top of a hill, lights from the windows glittering invitingly.

"John…who is he, really?"

Teyla glanced at her, frowning. "I do not understand what you mean."

"Well, he saved my life but I don't know much anything about him. I was just…curious."

A slight smile appeared on the younger woman's lips as she turned the car to a driveway leading up to the main building. "I am sure he will tell you about himself if you wish to know."

"I don't know about that. He seems very…private."

"Yes. I believe he has a right to that and I wish not to say anything he might not want me to say. I do apologize but you will have to ask him what you want to know."

Elizabeth gave up, watching as people filed out of the building and Teyla turned off the car.

"Miss Weir?" A stocky man with light brown hair and a strong Scottish accent was the first to make it to them. "My name is Carson Beckett, I'm a doctor. How is your leg?"

"It's fine", she lied through her teeth even though it had been hurting like hell ever since she had woken up. "Just a bit stiff, that's all."

"Aye, I can believe that. Careful now." Carson helped her out of the car and she leaned on his shoulder, glancing around at the other people who were looking at her curiously. A friendly looking, older woman with an apron tied around her stepped closer.

"Miss Weir, nice to meet you. I'm Lorraine and I'm Mr. Sheppard's housekeeper. I have prepared your room; would you like anything to eat?"

She shook her head. "I'm all right. And please, it's Elizabeth."

"But you must be starving." Lorraine followed them inside and Elizabeth gave an appreciative glance at the beautifully decorated hall. "I will bring a tray up for you, in case you get hungry later."

"Thank you." Carson was already leading her upstairs and the woman disappeared to the other end of the hall.

* * *

"All right, I have both good and bad news for you, Elizabeth", Carson told her thirty minutes later. She was resting in a huge bed in a stunning bedroom, there was a fire blazing in the fireplace and she was finally free of pain thanks to the morphine shot he had given her.

"Well, you're going to tell me both anyway so go ahead."

"The good news is your leg isn't broken and we don't need to put a cast on it. The bad news is it is quite badly sprained and I will have to order you to strict bed rest for a few days. And I do mean bed rest; I don't want you to use the leg at all for now. We will do some physiotherapy and it will be as good as new but you have to rest."

Elizabeth nodded. "I understand."

"As for the burns, they are on the mend and I don't think there is any damage beyond the surface. Of course sunburn is never healthy but you were lucky. John found you in the nick of time and you'll be fine."

She looked away. "Is he back yet?"  
"I'm afraid I don't know." Carson patted her arm. "But I'm sure he'll come up to see you when he gets back. In the meantime, eat your dinner and rest, all right? I'll be back to see you in the morning."

"Thank you, Dr. Beckett."

She leaned against the pillows, closing her eyes; it felt incredible to be surrounded with such luxury after the past few days and she knew she had so much to be thankful for.

* * *

She had dozed off again when John got back and was startled awake when he closed the door behind him.

"It's just me, relax." He sunk into the chair next to the bed and rubbed his face. "How are you? What did Carson say?"

"It's not broken but I have to rest", she replied, trying to gauge his facial expression. He looked tired, older than she estimated he was but still very handsome even with the dusty clothes and a layer of dirt on his face. "Did you…did you find them?"

John nodded. "We did. We brought them back here and I called the police. They'll be here in the morning since they're coming from Alice Springs."

"Were they…"She swallowed. "Were they damaged?"

A muscle twitched on his strong jaw line. "It wasn't a pretty sight. Your friend was still…recognizable but I suspect dental records will need to be used to identify some of the others."

"God", she muttered, closing her eyes. "I expect the police will think I had something to do with it?"

"What are you talking about?" John frowned.

"Come on. I'm the only one who survived; Simon and that other woman are nowhere to be found. It's only logical I'd be a suspect."

"I hate to say this but until they're found, dead or alive, I'd estimate they're the main suspects. It's a bit too convenient for them to disappear like that."

Elizabeth shook her head, her eyes wide. "Simon couldn't have done something like that. No, it's not possible."

"It's still a possibility." John pushed back some of his rebellious hair that was still pointing to every direction, no matter how tired the rest of him may have been. "I'll leave you to rest now. We are doing everything we can to find them; I can assure you of that."

"I know", she whispered. "Thank you."

He flashed her a grin, the appeal of which was in no way diminished by the dishevelled state he was in and she couldn't look away until he had closed the door after him and left her alone with her thoughts and confused feelings.

* * *

It turned out he had been right: the police seemed to treat Simon and the missing woman – Karen; she finally remembered her name was Karen – as main suspects, although all other lines of inquiry were still open as well. No matter how many times she tried to convince them Simon couldn't have done anything like that and it had had to be a random shooting, they didn't seem to listen to her and eventually she gave up, wondering if there had, after all, been a side to her lover she hadn't been aware of.

In the haze of the first few of days on the ranch, she'd managed to call Maria's parents and her fiancé Rob, the hardest task she'd ever had to do in her life. She was still constantly close to tears and cried through both phone calls, the absolute devastation the news were causing in her friend's family making her nearly hysterical. Maria's parents had decided to come to Australia to take their daughter's body home and Elizabeth had no idea how she'd be able to face them, having been the one to talk Maria into coming with her on the holiday, thinking the both of them could do with a break.

Carson was back to check on her twice daily, checking her leg and the burns, forcing her leg into endless bends and stretches to make sure it was healing without any hitches. Lorraine and other members of the house staff were on hand constantly to bring her anything she could possibly have needed and it was starting to make her uncomfortable; she was low-maintenance and felt like a burden to her caretakers, even though they assured her more than once they were happy to help. She was dying to get out of the house and to explore the ranch but after being caught once by Carson she knew better than to even get out of bed, if only to walk to the window to admire the amazing view.

She hadn't seen John much; according to Lorraine he was busy with an upcoming auction which apparently took place every year and in which he sometimes parted ways with up to half of his horses. During her illicit glances out of the window she had seen some of the beautiful young animals on the field almost directly outside of the house and wondered how John was able to give them up. Money, said Lorraine; running a ranch of this size demanded a lot of it and John apparently had made a small fortune from raising and selling the horses. She was able to see it in the decoration of the house, the quality of the food; obviously no expenses were spared.

By the fifth day Carson finally gave her permission to get out of bed and she tested her leg, sighing with relief when she was able to lower her weight on it again. It was still far from perfectly cured, Carson warned her, and she had to be careful. He gave her a walking stick and even though she felt like a very old person to be using one, she had to admit it came in handy when she was tired and her leg started aching.

She was on her way downstairs after lunch, with every intention to go outside to walk around a little when she ran into John.

"Elizabeth?" He seemed surprised to see her out of bed. "Where are you going? Shouldn't you be resting?"

She stopped and leaned against the cane. "I've been resting for the past five days; I want to get out of the house."

His eyebrows shot up and she hurried to explain. "I have nothing against the house, it's lovely but I was just getting…bored."

A smile graced his lips and she swallowed at the warmth that spread through her. "All right then. Come on."

"Where are we going?" She inquired, following him out of the door.

"Well, you said you wanted to get out of the house. I'll give you a tour." He pointed towards the car parked out front. "I don't want to risk you getting lost again; this is a large area. It's best viewed from the air but I haven't really got time today to take you up."

"You know how to fly a plane?" Why was she even surprised?"

"Well, out here it's quite a necessity; Alice Springs is 200 miles away and it's the fastest way of getting there. When I have more time, I'll take you flying."

She glanced at him. "I should make preparations to go back to the US. I need to get back to work the week after next."

"That gives us plenty of time. The auction is next week, you should stay for that. It's a big event."

She wanted to stay; in fact, she didn't want to leave at all. This was a completely new world to her and although her work for the UN was interesting and stimulating, right now she didn't even want to think about going back. And as much as she hated to admit it, a lot of it was because of the man sitting next to her. He intrigued her; she wanted to know more. And a big part of her was screaming she should get out before these feelings turned into something more.

The men working with various tasks around the ranch raised their hands to greet them as they drove past. The green pastures, the blue sky and the mountains in the distance created such an amazing view she couldn't help sighing in admiration.

John glanced at her. "Like it?"

"It's gorgeous." She watched as three young horses broke into a run in competition with the car, muscles working effortlessly as they chased each other to the fence. Their beauty nearly brought tears into her eyes.

"Are you selling them?"

"Those three? No, I'm keeping them for now at least. Two of them are Jazz's offspring and I have a soft spot for them. I'm not selling that many this time, to be honest, there's no need and I really don't like giving up any of them. Rodney has been in my case about that non-stop; he's worried we'll run out of money unless we sell more."

Elizabeth frowned. "Rodney?"

John chuckled. "I see you haven't had the pleasure of meeting him yet. Rodney McKay, a genius who looks after my finances. Though he has a doctorate in astrophysics and is a mathematics nerd and would be qualified for a far more demanding job than what he's doing right now. Which is something he never ceases to remind me about, but he loves it here, really. If not then he's doing supremely well in hiding it."

"Who wouldn't like it here?" They had stopped on the edge of a steep drop and she carefully peeked over to see a shiny river running on the bottom, like a silver-coloured snake. She could see miles and miles ahead, all features of the untamed nature of Australia. It was beautiful.

"Surprisingly many people", John sighed, leaning against the bonnet of the car, crossing his arms across his chest and she looked at him, curiously. It was another hint he'd given into his past, everything of which was obviously not pleasant and she wondered what exactly had happened to make him cynical like this.

"We should get back. I have a lot to do today", he straightened his tall body and she nodded.

"I'm sorry; I don't want to keep you from doing…whatever you need to do."

He watched her for a moment and she squirmed a little under his intense green gaze that seemed to see right through her. She wondered what exactly she was unwillingly letting him know.

"Can I help with anything?" She continued, nervously brushing hair from her face. "I feel quite useless just hanging around the house all day."

John watched her for a moment longer, before turning back to open the door. "Well, I'm sure Teyla can always use an extra pair of hands with the horses if you feel up for it."

"I'd love to." She sat down. "Can I go for a ride?"  
"Not on your own and not until Carson says it's OK." He turned the car and headed back. "If you want to go, ask Teyla, Ronan or Aiden to go with you. They're quite busy for the coming days though so I'm not sure if they'll have time."

She swallowed, nervously. "What about you?"

John lifted an eyebrow. "Me? I'm the busiest of the lot." He glanced at her. "I am quite curious, however, to see you handling a horse; I think you might actually be good."

"So?"

He laughed. "You are very impatient, Miss Weir. To be honest, I should check out some fences in the south side. Tomorrow morning, six o'clock. Think you'll be up for it?"

Her eyes flashed a challenge. "Absolutely."

"But only on the condition Carson thinks your leg can handle it. And don't try to fool me; I will find out."

"Has anyone ever been able to fool you?"

He inhaled sharply and she closed her eyes, cursing her own stupidity. "I'm sorry, that's none of my business."

"No, it's not." John's voice had turned cold and he turned the car off in front of the house, swiftly getting out. "I'll see you at dinner. Enjoy the day."

She was left looking after him, nearly in tears again. Usually her diplomatic skills were able to keep her from situations like this but it seemed that around John Sheppard she had no clue what to say or do.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

I noticed I had one more chapter of this story on my computer that wasn't posted here - I have started the next chapter as well but life stuff and other fics have taken over so I don't know when I'll actually be able to update. I do still like writing this story and I hope some people at least like reading it. There's a little bit of Ronon/Teyla in this chapter as well - sort of...

* * *

After some convincing from Elizabeth's part, Carson gave her a permission to go riding. Walking downstairs a little before six the next morning, she found John in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee and keeping company to Lorraine who was cooking a huge breakfast. She watched them laughing at something for a moment, taking in his tall, lanky body clad in a black t-shirt and grey pants, his hair the familiar mess. The sight of him hit her straight to the heart and she moaned quietly to herself. She couldn't possibly be falling in love with this man after knowing him for a little over a week. It just wasn't like her and yet the thought of having to leave and never seeing him again hurt her indescribably. 

John's eyes fell on her and he smiled slightly. "Elizabeth. I was sure you'd still be sleeping."

She took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen. "I told you I wanted to go riding. I'm afraid I don't have Carson's permission in writing though, you're just going to have to trust my word."

His eyes narrowed. "That's quite all right. I saw him last night after he'd been to check on you."

Lorraine handed her a cup of coffee. "You two are going nowhere without breakfast; it will be ready in a few minutes." She took a pile of plates into the dining room and John leaned back in his chair, watching her with cool eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She drank more coffee, working hard to keep the nervousness from her voice.

He shrugged. "You're an enigma. Impenetrable surface, you let nothing show. You always keep yourself in check. What's going on inside, Elizabeth?"  
She swallowed. "What are you talking about?"

John got up suddenly and walked to her, stopping mere inches away. "Do you ever let anyone close to you? Does anyone know who you really are?"

He was so close now; she could feel his breath on her cheek and she could have sworn he was leaning even closer. She forced herself to meet his eyes. "Do you?"

"Ever let anyone close to me or know you?"

Elizabeth started to tremble. "Both."

Lorraine chose exactly that moment to rush back to the kitchen, to Elizabeth's relief not even glancing at them as she grabbed more cups and utensils. John pulled back, a slight smile on his lips again.

"I guess we'll have to find that out some other time."

* * *

By the time they arrived at the stables, she was still slightly out of control and convinced he now knew all the feelings she worked so hard to hide. John didn't, however, seem to treat her differently; if anything, he was slightly more distant from her than before. 

Despite the early hour, people were already hard at work and he stopped briefly to give them some instructions while she wrapped the coat he'd told her to wear tighter around her; the day would be hot but now there was still a slight chill in the air.

Ronan met them by the main stable building, holding two horses, one of which she recognized to be Jazz. She automatically made a move towards the other one, a beautiful chestnut brown but John stopped her.

"You can take Jazz today."

"Oh." She changed directions and took the reins Ronan was handing her. "Thanks."

Under the scrutinizing gaze of the two men, she managed to get onto the saddle with minimum trouble. Jazz was bigger than what it seemed from the ground and it took her a moment to feel comfortable. She hadn't been doing much riding before coming to this trip but was eager to learn more.

"Are you OK up there?" John was turning his horse towards the road leading away from the stables and she managed to do the same, although it was probably more due to Jazz wanting to follow the other horse than her skills.

"I think so."

"All right then. We'll take it easy at first. Just trust yourself and trust him and everything will be fine."

She nodded and followed him out of the gate.

* * *

She relaxed quickly, enjoying the familiar movement of the horse beneath her and was able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings, warm sunshine and the company. John kept a careful eye on her at first before admitting she was handling the horse very well and concentrating on checking the fences which was why they were here in the first place. 

She couldn't help feeling something had changed in their relationship after that morning; he chatted with her about random things but it all seemed forced somehow, and she wondered if it made him feel as uncomfortable as she was. Guiding Jazz downhill alongside a small stream she became aware of how hot it already was and glanced at her watch: they'd been out for two hours now.

"You want to stop for a moment?" John didn't wait for her answer, sliding down and releasing the horse to drink some water from the stream. Jazz followed the example and she let go of the reins.

"Are you sure they won't escape?" She sat next to him on the grass and John smiled.

"I'm sure."

"I'll hold you on to that when we have to walk home", she playfully threatened, pulling off her coat. It seemed he was right, however, as the horses finished drinking and promptly moved on to feast on the grass.

"Listen, about what happened before breakfast…"he broke her out of her silent reverie. "I'm sorry. I was out of line. It won't happen again."

Elizabeth looked down. "Right." She wasn't sure whether he was talking about the physical closeness or saying what he had.

A frown appeared in his brow. "We should start getting back."

Well aware of how he was trying to escape an uncomfortable situation again, she shook her head. "Can we just stay a few more minutes. It's so beautiful here."

He obeyed, lying down on the ground, crossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes and she was once again reminded of how gorgeous he was. What in God's name was wrong with her?

"You're right, actually. We should go." She hurriedly got to her feet and walked to Jazz, dragging his head up from the grass and getting an angry swish of tail in return. John frowned, getting to his feet with the grace of a cat.

"Something wrong?"

"No, I…I just remembered something I have to do", she lied, nervously collecting the reins with shaking hands.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong?"

He had made no move to approach his own horse, who continued to eat peacefully and she dejectedly released the reins again, allowing Jazz to join in.

"Nothing, I just…" She twisted her hands. "I thought you wanted to get going."

His eyes narrowed. "Well, I was planning a different route back and if we wish to make it home in time for lunch, we should go soon. What's your excuse?"

"I told you. I have something to do."

From the half-amused look on his face she could tell he didn't believe a word she was saying.

"Right. Well, let's go then."

* * *

He took her back along the 'scenic route' which was, if possible, even more beautiful than the one they'd taken before. Elizabeth was quiet and John didn't seem to want to talk either, except for the occasional comment of telling her something about the nature or pointing out an exceptionally sensational view. Arriving back, they heard raised voices and met Ronan and Teyla in a heated argument, consisting mostly of her shouting and him leaning against the wall, looking at her with a slight smile that seemed to annoy her even more. 

"Why can you never admit I may be right, Ronan? Would it be so difficult to believe that?"

"Yes, because you're not right. Not in this case."

"I told you weeks ago…" She broke off, noticing John and Elizabeth. "Sorry. I did not notice you."

John grinned. "That's quite all right. Do carry on. Your arguments are the best entertainment we have around here."

The comment earned him a furious glare from the young woman and Ronan snorted, grabbing the reins of the two horses.

"Had a good time, Miss Weir?"

"Oh, she's a natural", John broke in before she could open her mouth and tell Ronan for the umpteenth time to call her by her first name. "But you're not to let her go out on her own. Teyla?"

"I'm afraid I'm very busy tomorrow and the weekend. Perhaps next week."

"That's all right. I don't want to interfere with your work. I would actually wish to help around here, if that's all right." Elizabeth was well aware of the look that was exchanged between Teyla and Ronan.

"You wish to help with the horses?"

"Yes, well, I would like something to do during my remaining time here. That is, if you have time to show me what to do." She knew she probably didn't look like someone who'd willingly get her hands dirty and was eager to prove that misconception wrong.

Teyla looked at John who shrugged. "It's fine with me but nothing strenuous, all right? Your leg is still healing."

"I am sure we can find something for you to do, Elizabeth. Ronan and I have a lot to get done today but if you come back tomorrow, we'll look into it."

"Thank you."

Teyla smiled and started towards the stables, followed by Ronan leading the horses. By the time they'd reached the doors, their bickering was in full force again and John rolled his eyes.

"Those two are constantly at each other's throats. If they weren't the best help I've ever had, I'd fire them both. Are you hungry?"

* * *

They were joined for lunch by Rodney McKay, John's 'chief financial expert' as he referred to himself. Despite the man being slightly full of himself, Elizabeth liked him instantly. 

Rodney spent most of the meal babbling on about money and the apparently less than perfect financial situation of the ranch. John, however, didn't seem worried, listening with a mildly bored look on his face.

"We are fine, Rodney. There's nothing to be so stressed about."

"Maybe not this moment, no. But excuse me for being worried that in the future you decide to become so attached to your horses you refuse to sell any of them. That, I'd say, will be a problem."

John shook his head, glancing at Elizabeth. "Rodney thinks I'm digging my own grave by not selling as many horses this year as I have before. How many times have I told you that it's a tactical move, Rodney? It will give me time to train them which in turn means they can be sold at a higher price."

"I do not see how you'd possibly have time on top of everything else to take on full training of over twenty young horses. And there is no point in dragging Miss Weir into this."

"Well, she's here, isn't she? I'm not dragging her into anything."

"I don't mind, honestly. And I see your point, Rodney, but I'm sure John knows what he's doing. If he thinks he has time to engage in training, then isn't the extra money worth it?"

John beamed at Rodney who pouted. "You've known her for what, a week and you've already brainwashed her?"

"I'm certainly not brainwashed, Dr. McKay. I'm merely stating my opinion."

"She's a diplomat, Rodney. You don't want to go there." John got up, grabbing his plate. "I have to leave you to it, I'm afraid. We can finish this conversation later."

"You can be sure we will", the scientist muttered. John shook his head at Elizabeth and disappeared to the kitchen.

"So, a diplomat? What exactly do you do, Miss Weir?"

"Actually, it's Dr. Weir." She thoroughly enjoyed the surprised look on Rodney's face. "I work for the United Nations. I advise them on international relations and negotiations. I do apologize if I overstepped my boundaries earlier, but I assure you it was my honest opinion."

"Yes, well, I just want to be sure John knows what he's doing. Sometimes it feels like he doesn't have a clue about the financial side of things." Rodney collected the papers he had brought with him. "Excuse me, Dr. Weir, I have to go over these calculations again. There may be something I have missed."

"Of course." She smiled politely, trying to hide her amusement as Rodney exited the dining room.

* * *

The police were back later that afternoon with an update on the situation: despite extensive searches both on the ground and from the air there was still no sign of Simon or Karen. The official opinion was that if they were still alive and indeed responsible for the shootings, they'd be well out of the country by now. 

"We will keep looking but to be honest, we don't really have the manpower to spare", the officer told her. "All things considered, it would be helpful if you could extend your stay in Australia, Miss Weir, just for a week or two. If we do find anything, we may possibly need you for identification purposes and it would save you from having to fly back from the US."

"I understand. I'll see what I can do. I will need to extend my leave from work but it shouldn't be a problem."

"Thank you. John, I except Miss Weir can stay here until we close the investigation?"

"That's fine by me."

"And you're welcome to travel within the country, Miss Weir, but we'd appreciate it if you told us about any longer absences beforehand."

"Of course."

As John escorted the officers to the door, Elizabeth buried her face into her hands. "Fantastic."

"You must really love your job, to be so eager to return to the States", he was back sooner than she'd expected and she lifted her head.

"That's not it, I just wanted to…go back and try to continue my life. To put all this behind me."

He nodded, taking a seat opposite her again. "It won't be that easy, Elizabeth. It's been a traumatic experience; you can't expect to be able to just forget about it."

"I realize that", she said, quietly. "But I have to try. It's all I can do."

His soft smile was playing havoc with her insides again and she changed the subject. "Thank you for letting me stay here, John. I appreciate it."

"No problem. It will give Ronan and Teyla more time to train you as their slave." He grinned and leaned back in the chair, relaxing. "I was actually going to ask if you'd like to come with me and Teyla to Alice Springs on the weekend. We need to make final arrangements for the auction and I figured you're probably going crazy by now without shopping and manicures and whatever you women are addicted to."

"I'd love to. But not because I'm addicted to anything." She looked down to her hands. "Maria's parents are coming on Sunday to take her body home. I wasn't sure if I would be able to face them but…I owe them that much."

He shook his head. "You should see them but not because you owe them anything. What happened was in no way your fault, no matter who eventually turns out to be guilty. But seeing them might bring some sort of closure for you."

She doubted there would be any closure for a long time; not until she got to the truth of what exactly had happened. Until she found out if her lover of several years had actually been involved in all this.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm really, really sorry for the lack of updates! RL and other plot bunnies have kept me busy and I haven't had inspiration about where I want this story to go. I hope I can update more regularly from now on but no promises...Do keep reviewing, I'd love to know what you think!

PLEASE NOTE: I changed the rating of this story to T for some adult themes but nothing too big. The rating will not go any higher from that.

* * *

Immediately after arriving to their hotel in Alice Springs, John and Teyla excused themselves and disappeared to run errands, leaving Elizabeth on her own to wander around the town. She walked in and out of a few clothing stores, not really on the mood for shopping and only picked up a few essential items before returning to the hotel and settling into the small café in the ground floor to wait for the other two to return. 

John arrived first and Elizabeth watched the female customers' heads turning and the women whispering to each other, trying to catch John's eye as he scanned the room for her or Teyla. Elizabeth got a few angry and jealous glances herself when he made his way to her and pulled up a chair.

"I didn't expect to find you here already." He signalled the waiter and ordered a coffee.

"Why not?" Elizabeth took a sip of her own and watched him over the rim of the cup.

John shrugged. "Shopping."

"I didn't really find much, to be honest…I didn't feel like buying things when…" She broke off, taking another sip, wishing he'd take his very perceptive eyes off her.

He did, but only to acknowledge the waiter for bringing his coffee.

"Elizabeth, sooner or later you're going to have to get back to normal life. You know that."

"I know." She looked away and emptied her cup. "Did you get everything done?"

"Don't change the subject."

She was saved from answering by noticing Teyla, who didn't, however, come to them but remained at the doorway, appearing to be exchanging heated words with someone Elizabeth couldn't see. She was able to make out the words 'Ronon' and 'trust' and some other less flattering phrases. John rolled his eyes, hearing it too.

"And here I was thinking separating them for a couple of days would improve things."

Elizabeth smiled. "I don't think separation is what they need, John."

He looked dumbfounded. "What then?"

"More like…some time alone together."

John snorted. "Yeah, and then they'd kill each other and I'd be left without any help. Not a good plan."

"John, they don't hate each other. In fact, I have a feeling it's quite the opposite."

She had to laugh at the look that spread on his face. "What?"

"Are you just playing dumb, John? Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"You can say whatever you want but you won't get me to believe Teyla and Ronon are in love with each other."

Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something else but then spotted Teyla walking towards them over John's shoulder. A surprised look spread on her face as she noticed the man following Teyla into the room.

John frowned at her expression and turned to glance over his shoulder. "Ronon?"

"John." Ronon nodded. "Miss Weir."

Elizabeth sighed but knew it was useless to try and tell Ronon to call her by her first name – she had tried and failed a number of times now.

"What brings you here?" John got to his feet, a worried look on his face and Ronon motioned towards the exit, glancing at Elizabeth. She stiffened.

"What is going on?"

"We'll be right back." John glanced at her and followed Ronon out of the door. Teyla took a seat next to Elizabeth.

"Did you find everything you needed in the stores?"

"Yeah, I did. What's Ronon doing here?"

"I am not sure. It must be important, otherwise he would have contacted John by radio. However, I'm sure it's nothing for you to worry about."

Elizabeth, on the other hand, wasn't so sure – the look Ronon had given her before leaving with John had unsettled her, made her concerned and convinced Ronon's unexpected arrival had everything to do with her situation.

* * *

John was back five minutes later, looking deep in thoughts, a frown between his eyebrows. 

"Elizabeth, I'm afraid our little holiday needs to be cut short. The police need you to return to the ranch."

"Why?"

John sighed, finally looking at her properly. "Apparently they've located your boyfriend."

Elizabeth could feel her face getting pale and suddenly the room felt very cold. "Is he…is he all right?"

The expression on John's face told her the answer even before he shook his head a little.

"I'm sorry."

She swallowed, the shock making her numb. Teyla reached to gently squeeze her arm and then looked at John.

"Go. I will take care of the rest of the arrangements."

John nodded. "Ronon will stay with you. I'll come and get you as soon as I can."

"Do not worry about us. Elizabeth, I am truly sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. "I can't leave, John, Maria's parents will be here tomorrow and I promised…"

"Teyla will talk to them. I'm sure they will understand."

"Of course. Elizabeth, I will explain to them what is going on. Just go with John now."

Elizabeth finally nodded and Teyla took her leave, after exchanging a few more words with John about the final arrangements for the auction that needed to be taken care of.

"Elizabeth?" John rubbed her shoulder gently and even through the numbness and shock she registered the warmth of the touch radiating through her body. "We should go."

She nodded. "Of course." She got on her feet, surprisingly stable although she had expected them to shake like leaves. "Just give me a few minutes."

"Hey." He turned her to him, gently grabbing her other shoulder as well. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She bit her lip. "Thank you, John. I'm all right."

His eyes searched her face a bit longer and she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes. After what felt like an eternity he finally nodded and released her and she knew for a fact he didn't believe her for one single moment.

* * *

The flight back was quiet and uneventful, Elizabeth trying to process the new twist in her life, John focusing on the plane's controls and sometimes glancing at her, refraining from talking for which she was grateful. She didn't really know how to feel about the turn of events, even though a part of her had already been prepared for it after the search for Simon and Karen had gone on for so long. 

The same police officer that had spoken to them earlier was waiting for them in the house, getting up to greet them with a grave expression on his face.

"Miss Weir. Thank you for coming, I'm sorry for having to interrupt your break. Alice Springs is a lovely town."

"It's not a problem." Elizabeth took a deep breath. "John told me you found….that you found Simon."

"That's correct." The officer glanced at John, then back to Elizabeth. "Miss Weir, you might want to sit down for this."

Elizabeth met his eyes and resolutely stayed on her feet. "Just tell me. And it's Elizabeth."

"Very well, Elizabeth. We found Mr. Wallace from the desert, approximately 100 miles from where the shootings took place. He was spotted from a search and rescue helicopter."

"I understand. What about the woman he was with? Karen?"  
The officer shook his head. "There was no sign of her. However", he took a break, as if searching for the right words. "We discovered a gun on close proximity to the body. The lab has already carried out some initial analysis on it and it appears the bullets found in the bodies match the type of the bullets used in that gun."

Elizabeth swayed a little and felt all the blood draining from her face; John took a step closer. "You should sit down."

"I'm fine. So you're saying that he was responsible for the shootings?"

"His fingerprints are on the gun and the bullets match it, Elizabeth. I'm afraid that can lead us to only one conclusion, yes. But we are not ruling out the possibility that he and Karen were both responsible."

"Christ." Elizabeth walked to the window, covering her mouth. Nausea was rising at the back of her throat, shock, disgust at the man she had shared her life with for years and suddenly she felt dizzy. How could he have done something like that? To his own girlfriend and her best friend as well as to complete strangers?

"Elizabeth?" John's worried voice seemed to be coming from somewhere far, far away and she barely registered it as the room suddenly started spinning and then there was only blackness.

* * *

For the second time in a few weeks, Elizabeth was placed into her bed, Carson and John and Lorraine and everyone else who had heard about the latest turn of events hovering worriedly over her. She regained consciousness only a few minutes after Carson ordered everyone out of the room, including John, who hesitated but succumbed to the doctor's stern gaze and left to deal with the police officer still waiting downstairs. 

Elizabeth opened her eyes and stared at the roof, briefly confused about what had happened or where she was. Movement from the left caught her attention and then Carson's friendly face came into view.

"Elizabeth, you gave us a bit of a scare in there. How are you feeling?"

She moved slightly and winced at the pain that laced through her shoulder. "What happened?"

Carson's face got serious again. "You passed out. It's understandable after receiving news like that, lass."

She frowned. "News? I don't…Oh." In an instant everything flooded back to her and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, again fighting the nausea rising in her. "Right."

"I'm very, very sorry, Elizabeth." Carson gave her hand a squeeze. "Are you in pain anywhere?"

She was about to tell him about her shoulder but the desire to be left alone was overwhelming now. "No, Carson, I'm fine. Could you just…give me a minute?"

"Of course. You need to get some rest. Let us know if you need anything, all right? And I mean anything."

"I will." She nodded, thankful when Carson turned to walk to the door and she managed to hold back her tears just long enough for the doctor to close it behind him before she allowed them to escape her eyes, powerful sobs racking through her body.

* * *

She spent the next couple of hours staring at the roof, reliving her life with Simon, trying to go through it with a fine-toothed comb to see if anything seemed weird to her, if anything could have given her clues about the recent events. Nothing came up, however, and she was left just as confused as before if not more so. 

A soft knock from the door interrupted her thoughts and a moment later John stepped in, his worried eyes finding her face instantly. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." She couldn't recognize her own voice properly, it sounded hollow and empty, not like hers at all.

John sat down on the chair beside her bed. "Don't lie to me, Elizabeth. You're far from fine."

"Well, how do you expect me to feel?" She couldn't help the biting tone of her voice and bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for. Listen, I spoke with the police officer and…"  
"I don't want to know", she interrupted. "I don't care what they do to him. I don't want to have anything to do with it."

He watched her for a moment before nodding. "All right. But if you could just give me a phone number or something, we need to inform his relatives."

Elizabeth shook her head. "His parents are dead and he didn't have any siblings. I don't know who you could inform to be honest."

"All right, his employers then. We need to let someone know."

She sighed. "Fine. I'll get you the numbers."

She started to get out of bed when the pain laced through her shoulder again and she flopped back down, moaning.

"Elizabeth? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." She grimaced and closed her eyes. "I'll get it later, if you don't mind."

"Just a minute. Did you injure yourself when you fell? I caught you so I know you didn't hit your head but you're in pain somewhere."

Elizabeth sighed, giving up. "It's my shoulder. I must have hit it on something."

John frowned before realization dawned on his face. "You fell right next to one of the lounge chairs, I guess you must have bumped your shoulder on it. I didn't notice."

"That's okay." She adjusted her position to a more comfortable one. "It's not that bad."

"Let's take a look. Sit up."

"John, I'm fine."

"Sit. Up." His voice didn't allow any more hesitation and Elizabeth obeyed reluctantly, pulling off her long-sleeved shirt and revealing a black tank top. John moved to sit behind her on the bed and she heard his sharp intake of breath.

"What? Is it bad?"

"Just a pretty bad bruise, that's all." He gently pushed one of the thin straps out of the way, then the strap of her bra and she shivered at the touch of his fingers.

"The skin isn't broken but I think you'll be black and blue for quite a while." John's fingers brushed across the injured skin and she jumped, sitting up straight.

"Sorry."

Elizabeth swallowed. "It's just sore, that's all."

"I bet. We need to get some ice for it and I think Carson would like to take a look, just in case."

"I'm sure he would", she muttered and he chuckled softly.

"Don't like doctors?"

Elizabeth bit her lip and said nothing. John caught up quickly, sighing. "I'm sorry. I forgot."

"It's all right. It didn't stop him from shooting people to death."

"We still don't know for certain…"

"I know. I can feel it", she dropped her gaze to her hands. "I don't want to believe it but…it's the only explanation. Whether he did it alone or with Karen, it doesn't change the fact that he was involved."

"I know." He sighed, fingers brushing over the bruise again and this time she didn't even flinch.

"Would it help if I tried to kiss this better?" His voice held a light, teasing tone and she couldn't help but smile.

"Would that keep Carson away from my case?"

"I can't make any promises about that – he is quite thorough with his patients. Which is, most of the time, very good."

His fingers stopped, then withdrew and she was about to complain when he dipped his head towards her and gently grazed the injured skin with his lips. A shiver ran through Elizabeth's body and she couldn't help a tiny moan escaping as John covered the entire bruised area with soft kisses.

"There. Feel better?"

"A little bit. Thank you."

She lifted her head, turning to look at him over her shoulder, expecting him to have pulled away from her but he was still close, so close she could feel his breath on her face and then she got stuck into the warmth of his green eyes. John's gaze dropped briefly to her lips and she saw him swallow, a jolt of excitement running through her and then she couldn't resist anymore, shifting her body a little bit more so that she was able to press her lips to his.

His lips were firm, warm and intoxicating against hers and then he was kissing her back, his hand rising to caress her cheek as he shifted closer to her, careful not to touch her injured shoulder. Elizabeth moaned against his mouth, eyes tightly shut, shocked and slightly surprised at the strong emotions the kiss was evoking in her although she really shouldn't have been. She had wanted him from the moment she had first woken up in the cave, that much she could admit to herself now, no matter how much she had tried to ignore the delicious shivers and the nervousness she always felt when she was near him.

She managed to turn around completely and John's other hand found its way into the curls of her hair, the other still gently cupping her cheek and she tested the boundaries by softly pushing him until he was laying against the pillows and she was halfway on top of him, the kiss increasing in passion as both of them completely forgot about the need for air. He allowed her to control the kiss still, his hand leaving her cheek and moving down to her back, simultaneously wiggling his body downwards on the bed so he was on a more comfortable position and was able to turn them around, pressing her into the soft mattress. It wasn't until her injured shoulder met with a pillow at a bad angle that she winced in pain and pulled her lips from his, gasping for breath.

They stared at each other, both breathing heavily and the fire in his darkened eyes was enough for her to pull him back down for another breathtaking kiss but this time he cut it short, pulling away from her and sitting up, rubbing a hand across his face.

"John?"

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I got carried away."

He got up and walked to the window and she sat up as well, swallowing. "John, what's wrong?"  
He sighed, glancing at her briefly. "We shouldn't do this, Elizabeth."  
"Meaning you don't want to do it." She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, battling the sudden feeling of being rejected. John walked back to her.

"Did it feel like I didn't want to do it?"

She stared at her knees determinedly and didn't answer.

"Elizabeth, this is not the best time. You've just had a big shock, I would be taking advantage of that."

She laughed shortly. "It's easy to hide behind that excuse."

"It's not an excuse." He watched her for a moment longer but she didn't meet his eyes.

"You should get some rest. I'll tell Carson to take a look at your shoulder."

"Fine."

John hesitated for a moment longer, like there was something else he wanted to say, before walking to the door and leaving the room. Elizabeth flopped back down against the pillows, tears rising into her eyes again and she wiped them away, furious at herself. She would not cry over a man, not again, especially not over a man she would probably never even see again after leaving this country.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you so much for all the reviews I got for the latest chapter - so glad to know people are still reading despite me taking ages to update! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Elizabeth winced at the pain on her shoulder and pulled the t-shirt down over her upper body, dragging a hand through her damp curls. Her hair was getting a bit too long now, she noticed, probably long enough to pull back in a ponytail if she only had something to tie it back with. She frowned briefly, trying to remember if there might be some hairclips in her luggage when Lorraine peeked in from the door. 

"Good morning, Elizabeth. How are you feeling?"

"Morning", she smiled at the older woman. "I'm all right."

"John told me you injured your shoulder. I hope it's nothing serious?"

"Not at all, just a nasty bruise."

Her face fell at the mention of John's name but if the housekeeper noticed it, she certainly didn't let anything show.

"Good to hear it's nothing more serious than that. You need to have some breakfast, I can bring it upstairs for you if you want."

"No, I'll come downstairs. Listen, this might sound weird but I was wondering if you'd happen to have any hairclips? My hair is starting to get in the way, I should have had it cut when I was in Alice Springs but there was not enough time and I didn't even think about buying hairclips..."

Lorraine smiled. "Of course. I'm sure I can find something."

* * *

Elizabeth had her breakfast alone: the painkillers Carson had given her for her shoulder the night before had made her sleep way past the normal breakfast time. She was secretly grateful for that: running into John after what had happened last night was not something she wanted to go through right now. A while after he had left her room, Carson had brought her an icepack and some painkillers, a sympathetic look on his face and Elizabeth remembered wondering if the doctor knew something about what had happened, if John had given something away with his body language. She didn't for one minute think he'd actually tell anyone about the kiss, not after the way he had reacted to it. 

"Here you go, Elizabeth", Lorraine's voice made her jump slightly, pulling her out of the deep thoughts as the housekeeper placed a selection of different hairclips on the table next to her.

"That's all I could find. Can I get you some more coffee?"

"No, thank you. And thanks for these. They're beautiful."

Lorraine nodded, a shadow crossing over her face briefly. "Yes. They were left behind when…" She frowned, shaking her head slightly as if remembering this wasn't something she should talk about. "Never mind. I need to get going, I will see you for lunch, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth watched the housekeeper walking out of the room, now very curious about the story behind the hairclips and picked up one, a beautiful antique style clip, decorated with pearls. She pulled her still damp hair back and fastened the clip, marvelling at how different she instantly felt. A few strands were too short and fell around her face: she impatiently pushed them behind her ears and collected the other clips from the table.

* * *

"Where did you get that?" 

Elizabeth startled, for the second time that day, nearly dropping the book she had been reading and jumping up from the chair. She had had her back to the door, having turned the comfortable chair around so that she could keep an eye on the hustle and bustle going on outside while leafing through the book.

John was standing at the doorway of her room and the expression of his face made her swallow. He looked angry, frustrated, dangerous even, but her heart sped up regardless, the familiar shivers of excitement back again. Cursing herself, she stepped around the chair to face him.

"Get what? The book?"

Even before the words left her mouth she instinctively realized what he had meant and her hand rose to her hair, to the pearl decorated clip

John's eyes narrowed. "Where did you get it, Elizabeth?"

"I…Lorraine gave it to me. I needed something to pull my hair back with." She met his eyes with defiance, one hand still on the clip like she was afraid he'd come and tear it off her hair any minute. Judging by the furious expression on his face, she wouldn't be surprised if he did just that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think it was…that it would bother you."

John stared at her for a moment longer, his eyes hard and cold, his expression unreadable until finally softening slightly and he rubbed a hand over his face.

"It belonged to my wife."

Elizabeth wasn't terribly surprised by his words, she had been expecting something like that but it still stung, to hear him even mention another woman, one he had been so close to. She shook her head to herself: who was she to stake any sort of claim to this man, after the events of the previous evening?

Her eyes still firmly meeting his, she placed the book down on the chair and used both hands to release her hair, pulling the clip away, the dark curls falling across her shoulders once again and she heard his sharp intake of breath.

"Do I look like her, John?"

She was feeling unusually bold right now, the fingers on her right hand curling around the clip as she searched his face for any clues.

"Is that why you don't want to get too close to me? Because I look like her?"

His eyes narrowed, the hard look back again. "Stop."

She hesitated, briefly, but pressed on. "Do you think I will do whatever it was she did to you? You pulled away from me last night, was it because of that? Because you think I will screw you over like she did?"

John gritted his teeth. "Shut up, Elizabeth. I'm warning you."

She was going purely on instinct now, following the reactions on his face. "Why are there no pictures of her anywhere, John? Why have you shut her out of your life so completely?"  
She could see his control snap a millisecond before he took a couple of long strides into the room and grabbed her wrist, painfully, and pushed her down to sit on the bed.

"John, you're hurting me." She struggled, trying to pull her hand free but his grip was secure and she couldn't do anything else but stare into his smouldering eyes, oddly fascinated by the multiple colours in them.

His face was very close to hers and she saw his eyes flick down do her lips briefly, like they had the previous evening before the breathtaking kiss. Despite everything, despite the iron grip he had of her wrist and the fact that he was scaring her right now, she really wanted him to kiss her again. Really, really wanted it. And her desire must have shown clearly in her eyes because the next moment John did just that.

This kiss carried no resemblance to the first one: it was hard and demanding, almost bruising, like he was trying to punish her for asking all the questions. Elizabeth moaned against his mouth, shocked at his actions even though she had had a pretty good idea that something like that was coming. Just as unexpectedly as John had slammed his lips to hers, he pulled away, breathing harshly, still holding on to her wrist, but with a looser grip now. And despite the roughness of his actions, his voice was almost gentle.

"Is this what you want, Elizabeth?"

"No." She took a deep breath. "What I want is for you to talk to me. It's been almost a month now and I know next to nothing about you."

John shook his head slightly, releasing her and walking to the window. She remained seated, her heartbeat slowly returning to normal, eyes fixed on his back. He stared out of the window for a long time, as if battling whether or not to give in to her request, before finally turning around.

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

She stared at him, surprised and John narrowed his eyes. "Go on, ask before I change my mind."

Elizabeth tried to arrange her bewildered thoughts and asked the first question that crossed her mind. "Where is she?"

"She's dead. Next?"  
Her breath caught and John rolled his eyes. "Let me save you the trouble. No, I did not kill her. She died in a plane crash, nearly four years ago."

"What was her name?"

John frowned. "Kimberly. Why?"

Elizabeth looked at her hands. "It's just easier to talk about her when I know her name."

A brief smile crossed his face. "Right."

"What did she do to you?"

"What makes you think she did anything to me?"

She looked up to meet his eyes again. "I can't imagine you to be this angry with her just because she died in a plane crash. Were you…?" She inhaled sharply. "John, were you flying the plane?"

"No. My best friend was."

"Oh my God. Did he…"

"Yes, he died too."

She sighed, frustrated. "John, you're not being very forthcoming here."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm answering your questions, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but…"

John crossed his arms. "To cut a long story short, he was staying here for a few months as a guest and just happened to fall in love with my wife. They had an affair, she got pregnant and decided she wanted off the ranch, away from me and out of the country, wanted to go to the States with him to start a new life. The plane crashed on the way from here to Sydney."

Elizabeth swallowed. "I'm really sorry, John. Was it…was the baby his?"

He shrugged. "I should imagine so. I didn't even know she was pregnant until the bodies were examined."

She glanced at him. "So you weren't…?"

"Sleeping together?" The corner of his mouth twitched. "Well, for some reason she didn't really show much interest in that. It was pretty foolish of me not to realize what was going on until the night before they left. I wasn't…it wasn't very pleasant when I confronted them about it."

Elizabeth nodded. "I can imagine." She bit her lip briefly. "Did she look like me?"

He shook his head. "Not really. She had blonde hair."

She smirked. "So did I, once. A long time ago."

John looked surprised. "Really?"  
"Yeah, just briefly, though. When I was young and…foolish."  
"Ah. Well, she still didn't look like you. And I don't keep any pictures of her around the house because I don't like to be reminded of being betrayed like that."

"How long were you married?"

"Nearly three years."

"I see." She finally rose from the bed to pace the room. "John, why did you pull away from me last night?"

He frowned at her sudden change of topic. "I told you, you had just had a shock and I didn't think it was…"

"Stop that, John", she cut in. "You wouldn't have used me. I wanted it and you know I did. I thought it was because…because I reminded you of her but if that's not the case…"

"Elizabeth, you're going back to the States in a couple of weeks. It would do neither of us any good if anything happened between us."

She turned to face him from the opposite side of the room. "So ultimately you really are worried I will do exactly what Kimberly did. Minus the falling in love with your best friend part."

John sighed wearily. "Fine. If that's the way you want to put it, yes. I don't want anything to happen that might get either of us hurt. I do care about you, Elizabeth."

"Do you?"

Her voice revealed the slight bitterness she was feeling at the moment, the disappointment that he had to be so cool and calculated about this, so damn sensible. Usually she was the one who kept her head clear in any situation, especially relationships, not the other way around.

John rolled his eyes. "Yes, I do. Is that so difficult to believe?"

He crossed the room to her, gently laying his hand on her shoulder. "Does this still hurt?"

She eyed him, trying very carefully not to flinch at the soreness on her shoulder. "A little."

"Hmm." His eyes travelled down to her hand, her fingers still curled around the pearl hairclip.

"Can I have that?"

"Of course." She placed the clip into his hand. "I'm sorry. I really didn't think…"

John pushing his hands into her hair, gently collecting the curls on a ponytail and fastening the clip around it cut her words short and she just stared at him, shocked. The few too short strands again stubbornly escaped from the clip and just like she had done earlier that day, he carefully placed them behind her ears.

"There. It looks good on you."

Elizabeth swallowed. "John…"

He sighed a little, hands still caressing the strands of her hair. "I do wish things were different, Elizabeth. Like I said, I care about you. I think that much is obvious."

She bit her lip. "Things could…be different."

He smiled briefly, thumbs softly caressing her cheeks before leaning closer to press a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I don't think either of us is ready for that yet. I should get back to work."

She couldn't come up with any words and just nodded mutely, watching John walk away from her. He stopped at the doorway, turning back. "By the way, I think Teyla could really use another pair of hands at the stables now, if you're up to it. She's going to be rather busy for the next few days."

"Yeah. I'd love to."

John watched her for a moment longer, then nodded. "All right. Why don't you come down after lunch and we'll see what you can do?"

"Sounds good."

He left the room after one more devastating smile and Elizabeth groaned, burying her face into her hands.

This was going to be fun.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, here is chapter 8 - I hope you like! Reviews greatly appreciated as always!

* * *

The next week passed quickly as Elizabeth buried herself to work, impressing everyone with her quick learning and willingness to work as hard as was needed: by the second day Teyla admitted she couldn't have dealt without Elizabeth's help and, to everyone's amazement, even Ronon agreed with her. No one brought up the fact that she was perhaps working too much, working to get her mind off other things, and if John's perceptive eyes at times held a degree of worry when she showed up before sunrise and worked almost without breaks the whole day, he didn't bring the issue up with her. They had barely spoken after he had finally revealed to her the truth about his ex-wife; he hadn't touched her and certainly hadn't kissed her. She sometimes wondered if their relationship had in fact been better before that discussion, but didn't have many chances to think about it, falling into bed immediately after finishing work and sleeping soundly until the morning. The days rolled by quickly and suddenly it was time for the auction. 

People flew in from the neighbouring farms and nearest towns and cities and Elizabeth learned that word spread fast: wherever she went, she could feel curious eyes following, could hear the whispered comments and rumours people didn't really try very hard to hide. Somehow it seemed that everybody knew about Simon and Karen, knew exactly how and why Elizabeth had ended up here and seemed to have formed a few opinions about her "real" reasons for staying as long as she had. She gave up after trying futilely to explain to a few people that the police needed her to stay in case any new leads came up: no matter how much she tried, a couple of hours later she learned of yet another explanation.

She willingly avoided the bustle of the stables as much as possible and instead helped Lorraine in the kitchen, making endless pots of coffee and marvelling at how such simple tasks made her so happy. All her life she had aimed high, attended the best schools and universities, held respected and well-paid positions, one after another. This world was as far away as possible from the one she was used to but still she found herself more content than perhaps ever before. The thought unsettled her at first but she pushed it to the back of her mind: surely it was only a reflection of all the recent events in her life, just gratitude that she was safe, that she hadn't met the same fate as the other people she began this adventure with.

She was leaning against the kitchen sink, drinking a cup of coffee, deep in thought when Teyla burst into the room, a frazzled and tired expression on her face, but smiling.

"Elizabeth, I was hoping you would have some coffee for me. I am absolutely exhausted."

"Of course."

Teyla took a seat, accepting the cup with a smile and looking at Elizabeth questioningly.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind, I hope I am not bothering you."

"No, not at all." Elizabeth took a seat opposite the younger woman, nursing her own cup. "I was just thinking about everything that's happened, in such a short time."

"I understand." Teyla downed half of her cup at one go and Elizabeth looked on, impressed. "I hope you feel at home here, Elizabeth. It is a lot of work but I would not exchange it for anything else."

"I love it here. To be honest, I'm starting to worry I love it too much."

She stared into her cup and could feel Teyla's eyes on her. "Do you not wish to return to your country?"

"I don't know", Elizabeth sighed. "I guess I do, but sometimes I think about this lifestyle and feel like things are so much simpler here, so much easier."

"I believe that is exactly what John said after he had been here a while." Teyla smiled. "He was tired of the traffic, of the people rushing around, of the 'constant competition' I believe it was. He is much happier here, perhaps you would be as well."

"Who knows?" Elizabeth pushed the cup away from herself. "Would you like another coffee?"

"Oh no, thank you. I must go back before Ronon starts wondering where…" The sound of the front door slamming interrupted her and moments later Ronon appeared in the doorway. Teyla rolled her eyes at Elizabeth.

"Here you are." Ronon nodded at Elizabeth. "Miss Weir."

"Ronon, please call me Elizabeth."

"It's no use to keep reminding him, he will start calling you by your given name whenever he decides to", Teyla informed her, getting up from the table. "Thank you for the coffee, Elizabeth."

"Not a problem. Would you like one, Ronon?"

"No, thank you…Elizabeth", he winked at her and Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh.

"That wasn't so difficult, was it?"

Ronon and Teyla made their way out and Elizabeth wondered if their bickering had perhaps eased off a little bit lately, or if they were just keeping it down for the sake of the visitors. She had observed the pair closely while working at the stables and was sticking by her first impression about them being in love with each other but possibly still unaware of it. She had always prided herself on recognizing emotions in people, almost to the point of being able to guess what they were thinking: in her job that was an invaluable skill to have.

The door slammed again.

"Elizabeth? I forgot to ask you something." Teyla was back, looking like she had been running.

"There is a formal reception tomorrow night, a big dinner for all the people who have come for the auction. Do you have an evening dress with you? I think we are about the same size so if you do not have one, you can borrow one from me. I bought two new dresses from Alice Springs, I think one of them might suit you very well."

Elizabeth frowned, for a moment not remembering if she had a dress or not, before remembering packing one just in case, for eating out. "I did bring one, I hope it's suitable."

"I am sure it is fine. If not, then you are welcome to borrow mine." Teyla nodded and rushed back out. Elizabeth groaned: a formal reception was not something she wanted to attend, not now with all the gossip going around.

* * *

She stretched her arms above her head and lowered the book from her hand, sighing and glancing out of the window to the darkness. It was late, probably later than she should have stayed awake, considering the next day would be very busy again but she had been thoroughly engrossed in the book she had found in the lounge downstairs. 

The full moon was shining brightly, only occasionally covered by some clouds drifting lazily past it, and suddenly she wanted to go outside.

Quietly walking through the sleeping house on her tiptoes, Elizabeth pushed the heavy front door open and inhaled the still warm night air deeply. The entire landscape before her looked silvery in the moonlight and she smiled at its beauty and tranquillity. She walked around the house and slipped into the stunning garden at the back, Lorraine's pride and joy, the strong scent of the flowers meeting her nose and she took another deep breath.

"It's nice, isn't it?"

The voice behind her made her jump and turn around, startled. "Christ, John, you scared me."

He was leaning against the porch railing, a smirk on his face, looking relaxed, dark eyes scanning her. She could see him clearly in the moonlight and, as always, he made her heart skip a few beats and resolutely she turned her eyes away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

John appeared next to her, hands in his pockets, and Elizabeth suddenly felt like she hadn't seen him in ages, when in fact he had been there for each meal, sometimes bumping into her at the stables or in the kitchen but this was the first time they had been alone, since that day in her bedroom.

"It's okay."

He glanced at her sideways. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I haven't tried yet."

"It's a long day tomorrow." John shifted his gaze to the stars. "I assume Teyla told you about the reception?"

"She did." She turned her own eyes to the sky and gasped at the beauty of the stars spread out across the horizon. The night was so calm, so beautifully scented and the stars added their own touch to it, making the entire picture so perfect it nearly brought tears to her eyes, making her feel so blessed that she was still here and able to see all of it.

She noticed the shooting star at the same time than he did.

"Make a wish," he quietly said, finally looking at her properly, the first time in a long time and she swallowed at the intensity in his eyes.

"You too."

He smiled, looking down. "I don't think I need anything more at this moment."

Elizabeth laughed. "Well said."

He grinned. "Yeah, well, I aim to please."

She smiled and another silence descended.

"What did you wish for?" John's voice was warm and she shivered despite the temperature of the night.

"I don't think I'm meant to tell anyone", she answered quietly. "If I do, it won't come true."

"Good point." He turned to face her. "Elizabeth, I…"

"Please", she lifted her hands. "Don't. I don't want to have another deep conversation right now. Can we just…not talk?"

A brief smile crossed his face. "You're a diplomat. You were born to talk."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "You think so?"

He shrugged. "Am I wrong?"

"Well, no but as it happens, sometimes silence is golden."

"Really?"

"Really."

"All right. We don't have to talk." He raised a hand to push a strand of hair behind her ear and she took a deep breath.

"John…"

Something flashed in his eyes and her heartbeat picked up, until she was sure her heart was about to break out of her chest. John watched her for a moment, before moving his hand to her neck and pulling her close for a passionate kiss.

It felt like an eternity since he had last kissed her, even though she knew it had only been a week. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with his soft hair and John moved his other hand to the small of her back, pulling her flush against his body. A tiny voice at the back of her head told her she maybe shouldn't be doing this, in case he closed off from her, again coming up with some brilliant excuse for why this was wrong but somewhere in her hazed mind she also realized that this time, something felt different.

After quite a while, breathing became a necessity and John shifted to her neck, nibbling at it gently, then soothing it with gentle kisses. She moaned, clinging onto him tighter.

"I thought you said we couldn't do this", she whispered breathlessly before his mouth returned to hers for another incredible encounter.

John pulled back, fixing her with darkened eyes, the fire still smouldering in them and she shivered, wondering what exactly he did to her: she was a grown woman who had had plenty of experiences like this in her life, yet she didn't remember any of them having felt like this. Hesitancy swept across his face for a brief moment and she mentally kicked herself for speaking up. If he walked away from her now, she'd only have herself to blame.

He cleared his throat. "I know I did. But at the same time I can't seem to be able to stay away from you."

Elizabeth swallowed, relief flooding every corner of her body. "I think I have the same problem."

He merely smiled, leaning in to kiss her again and she lost herself in him, in the sensual haze of his hands all over her body, then in her hair, on her face, like he was committing every inch of her to his memory. She copied his actions, exploring, feeling the strength of him, strength she had seen every day while working with him, strength that made delicious shivers run down her spine.

He stopped for one brief moment, drawing a frustrated groan from her lips. That earned her a smile.

"Elizabeth, are you sure about this? If we keep this up I can't…you can still tell me to stop."

She shook her head, pressing her body closer and John inhaled sharply.

"I don't want you to stop."

* * *

She wasn't entirely sure how they had managed to get through the back door, up the stairs and into his bedroom, but now that she was here, stretched out on the bed, head on John's chest, listening to his heartbeat slowly returning to normal, she really couldn't have cared less about how they had covered the distance. She sighed contently, snuggling even closer, the slight sheen of sweat brought on by their recent activities evaporating from her skin as he pressed his lips on her damp hair. 

"Tired?"

"Mmm. You kind of wore me out", she mumbled and felt his lips curl into a smile.

"Sorry about that."

Elizabeth lifted her head to find his eyes, the expression in them gentle and caring, loving even and suddenly, without any clear reason at all, she realized she was crying.

Trying to hide her eyes before he caught her, she attempted to place her head back on his chest but John was faster, his fingers under her chin stopping her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing", she muttered quietly, embarrassed, closing her eyes. She rarely cried, if ever really, but during the past couple of weeks it seemed she was making up for all that.

"Elizabeth, you're crying." John's thumbs wiped the tears away and she could feel him tensing. "Did I hurt you?"  
Her eyes flew open. "No! God no. You were incredible. I just…all this is a lot to take in."

John sighed. "This is exactly what I meant last week. You're not emotionally ready for this. I…."  
"You did not take advantage of me." She stressed each word, knowing exactly what he had been about to say. "My life has turned upside down within the space of a month and right now, you're the only thing that makes sense to me. If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead, John. Literally."

"Well, I don't know about that" he chuckled. "I think you've proven yourself rather resourceful, to be honest. You might have been able to think of something."

Elizabeth smiled through her tears. "I don't think so. But thanks for the compliment."

"No problem." He kissed her gently. "Just take your time. You've experienced a lot in a short time and it's going to take time to adjust to that. Nobody's expecting you to get over everything in a heartbeat."

"I know." She kissed him back, tasting the saltiness of her own tears on his lips. "Thank you, John. For everything."

"My pleasure."

The emotions roused by his kiss brought a new wave of tears into her eyes and he held her close, comfortingly, hands rubbing her back until her quiet sobs died down. She couldn't help feeling embarrassed, like she had just bared more of herself to him than she had intended to but when his lips found hers again, hands moving from her back to caress her sides, she couldn't really think at all anymore. Surrendering to the sheer bliss of his touch, the last coherent thought to cross her mind was that right now this was everything she could possibly ask for, everything she needed for true happiness and contentment.

* * *

Much later, when the moon had given way to the first pale light of the morning and neither of them had gotten any sleep, Elizabeth leaned on her elbow and studied the man next to her, her hand caressing his strong jawline, unable to keep the smile off her face. 

"What?" John sounded amused, rather tired and she couldn't blame him – it had been a long night. Both of them would be absolutely knackered before the day was over. "Something funny?"

"No, just thinking."

"Hmm." His fingertips moved up and down her arm lightly. "You seem to do that a lot."

Elizabeth shrugged. "Born to talk, also born to think."

He grinned lazily. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just how strange but perfect this is." Her lips twitched. "I wasn't expecting this to happen. It was the last thing on my mind when I came to this country."

His face got serious. "Yeah, well, sometimes life is full of surprises."

She sighed. "Yeah. I guess both of us have first-hand experience of that." She focused on exploring his face again for a moment.

"John…how did you feel when you found out about Kimberly?"

He looked away from her, fingers on her arm stopping their steady movement. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I think you should talk about it and I don't think you really have so far." She gently touched his jaw to turn his face back to her. "John, please, don't shut off from me now."

He sighed, wearily rubbing a hand over his face.

"I was…I guess you could say devastated: I did love her a lot and for her to betray me like that, with my best friend of all people wasn't easy to deal with."

Elizabeth placed her head on his chest, her fingers entwining with his.

"When I found out she was pregnant when she died, it was a big shock and that's when I think I decided – consciously or not – to put up a wall, to not let anyone that close to me again."

He focused his attention to her hand, playing with her fingers. "That wall seemed to hold pretty well until a few weeks ago. And now there's you and I think it's about to crumble."

She took a deep breath and lifted her head to look at him. "Is that…a bad thing?"

His eyes met hers. "Elizabeth, like I told you last week, I wish some things were different but at the moment they aren't. The fact is that you're going back to America in a couple of weeks and I'm not sure how the whole us being in different continents thing will work."

She smiled briefly. "John, right now I have no desire whatsoever to go back to America."

He frowned. "Elizabeth…"

"Shh", she placed a finger on his lips. "We don't need to think about that yet. I don't want to think about it. Right now, all that matters to me is that you're here with me, John. Everything else can wait."

His smile lit up his whole face. "That sounds good to me."

He found her lips again and she smiled. "Are we actually going to get any sleep tonight?"

"It's already morning", he pointed out. "Have to get up soon anyway."

Elizabeth grinned, kissing him deeply. "Now that is a very good point."

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Apologies for the lack of updates again - I couldn't decide whether to put this chapter up or not as it felt too fluffy for this story. But here it is and two more to go. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.

* * *

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth!" 

It took several moments before Lorraine's voice registered and by then the other woman was shaking her shoulder gently. Elizabeth lifted her head, for a moment thoroughly confused of her surroundings before the familiar features of the dining room registered. She had fallen asleep by the table after breakfast.

"I…oh God, Lorraine, I'm so sorry." She pulled her fingers through her hair, hoping it was even remotely presentable. "I didn't…sleep very well last night."

The housekeeper smiled, placing a fresh cup of coffee next to her and collecting the empty breakfast dishes. "You and John both. He was acting like a sleepwalker earlier."

Elizabeth could feel her cheeks getting hot and judging by Lorraine's smile the older woman knew exactly what had happened between her and John the night before and what was behind their sleeplessness.

"Why don't you go back to bed, Elizabeth? I can handle everything here and you'll want to be rested for the reception tonight."

"No, that's all right." Elizabeth stood up, smiling. "Lack of sleep is something I'm used to, it comes with my job. I think I'll go see if they need any help at the stables."

Lorraine nodded. "Very well. Maybe you should take a nap later in the day, however."

"Maybe." She smiled and watched as the older woman took the dishes to the kitchen before slowly heading for the front door, stretching her body as she went. She was stiff, a bit sore even but it just made her smile, remembering what had caused it.

They had finally fallen asleep an hour before John had had to get up; Elizabeth had dragged herself out of bed about 30 minutes after him. She wondered how John was dealing with the lack of sleep but her question was answered almost immediately after arriving at the stables: he was leaning against a fence with Ronon, watching young horses being trained and looking just as good as he would have after a full night's sleep. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose, knowing exactly how tired she looked, despite telling Lorraine she was used to the lack of sleep, she hadn't exactly had to deal with it in quite a while.

Ronon noticed her first. "Good morning, Elizabeth."

"Morning." She smiled at him, then at John, who smiled back lazily, turning his back to the horses and crossing his arms.

"Slept well?"

For the second time that morning, her cheeks got hot. "Not really, to be honest. I was…something kept me awake most of the night."

John lifted an eyebrow. "Not nightmares, I hope."

She narrowed her eyes. "Not at all, I've been having quite pleasant dreams lately, actually."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that."

Ronon frowned, looking at John, then back to Elizabeth. "Right. You could have slept in, Elizabeth, we have everything under control here."

"That's all right. It's too beautiful a day to waste on sleeping." She glanced at the cloudless blue sky and smiled.

Ronon looked amused. "Really? It's no different from yesterday."

"Ronon, why don't you go see if Teyla needs any help", John cut in, saving a very uncomfortable Elizabeth. "And try not to get into an argument with her in front of our guests."

"I'll try my best." Ronon nodded at the both of them. "Elizabeth."

"Ronon." She made sure the man was out of hearing range before turning back to John, glaring at him.

"What?" He attempted to look innocent, failing miserably.

"Nightmares?"

John shrugged. "Would you have preferred I tell Ronon exactly what kept you from sleeping last night?"

Elizabeth blushed again. "No. Not really."

He smiled softly, reaching for her hand and squeezing it gently. "He had a point though, you should have slept in. You look a bit tired."

"I'm all right." She brushed her thumb over his fingers. "You, however, should look even more tired than me. You only got one hour. It's not fair."

He chuckled. "It's a gift."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Of course."

John smiled. "Anyway, I'm not exactly needed here until the evening, the auction itself is over and Ronon and Teyla are handling the horses while Rodney stresses over the money side of things so...Would you like to go riding?"

"Really? I'd love to."

She hadn't had a chance to do any riding after her and John's initial trip, Carson had forbidden it after her shoulder injury and during the past few days everyone had been too busy to accompany her.

"Come on then." John gave her hand a final squeeze and released it before starting towards the stables. She tried to push the little pang of disappointment to the back of her mind: it wasn't likely he would hold her hand, show everyone this soon that they were…Elizabeth frowned, realizing she actually had no idea what they were now, whether last night had significantly changed things for him, like it had done for her.

"Elizabeth?"

She snapped out of her thoughts, smiling at his questioning expression.

"Coming."

* * *

Her thoughts bothered her long into the ride, distracting her to the point where she almost fell down after Jazz startled at a group of birds taking off from a tree. John instinctively reached to grab the reins but the horse calmed down quickly. 

"You seem to have a lot on your mind", he commented, handing the reins to Elizabeth again and straightening himself back up.

"Sorry", she mumbled, sighing. "I guess I'm just tired."

John was quiet until they got to a gorgeous valley with a small stream and released the horses to drink and eat; she avoided looking at him, splashing some cold water on her face to wake up a little. She was starting to think she should have taken both John and Ronon's advice and gone back to bed instead of thinking her body would be able to handle the sleepless night like it always had in the past. It was, however, unlikely she would have been able to sleep with all these thoughts bugging her. And John's silence was doing nothing to make her feel better, in fact, it was starting to make her very worried that he considered last night's events a complete mistake.

"Are you okay?" John's voice was quiet and she almost wanted to cry.

"It didn't mean anything to you, did it?"

She struggled to keep her tears from falling even though she was sure he could hear them in her voice.

John pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Are you talking about last night?"

"What else would I be talking about?" Elizabeth glared at him, nearly shouting, the sleep deprivation and the building worry making her almost hysterical. She wasn't sure what bothered her more, John's behaviour or her own very emotional reaction to it: she was never like this and didn't want to be, not in front of him.

He shook his head slightly. "Elizabeth…"

"On second thought, save it. I don't want to know. Just…take me back."

"Not until you hear me out."

"No, John." She started towards the horses. "I don't need to hear this."

"Stop right there. We're not going anywhere until we talk about this."

She spun back around. "You haven't seemed very willing to talk about it so far."

John sighed. "Why do you think I took you riding?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Because you didn't want anyone overhearing and knowing what happened last night?"

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, making her even angrier. "Why wouldn't I want that? And unless I remember wrong, you said yourself you didn't want me to tell Ronon. I could have but I didn't think you'd want me to."

She couldn't think of anything to say and just continued to glare at him.

"Elizabeth, you're exhausted and overreacting and your body is still recuperating from your time in the desert and the shock of learning about Simon. All that considered, yes, there is one person I wouldn't want knowing about last night. Carson would kill me if he found out I kept you up all night."

Elizabeth couldn't help a small smile: that was exactly what the doctor would probably do.

John stepped closer, taking her hand again. "Everyone else can find out and think whatever they want to, I don't care. I don't know what on Earth could make you think I wouldn't want them knowing."

She looked down to the ground. "You didn't hold my hand."

John frowned. "What?"

"When we left for the stables, back at the farm. You let go of my hand before we got there. I thought you didn't want anyone seeing it."

She suddenly felt very, very stupid, like a schoolgirl with a crush. This was not one of her best diplomatic arguments.

"Oh." John seemed slightly amused. "I'm sorry, I didn't even notice. I assure you it wasn't intentional."

She dared a quick, embarrassed glance at him. "I guess you were right about the overreacting bit."

He smiled teasingly. "As for it not meaning anything to me, you're way off base there. You're not really impressing me with your people-reading skills, Doctor Weir."

"Well, you could very easily be the most difficult person I've ever had to read, Mr. Sheppard."

He chuckled. "Really?"

"Yeah. And I have a lot of experience too."

John caressed her cheek. "Maybe you just need more experience with me then."

"That is possible."

He kissed her softly, then withdrew, walking to the horses. "Listen, I had something else in mind as well when I suggested this trip."

She watched him pull out a blanket from Jazz's saddlebags and spread it to the grass. "Oh really?"

John rolled his eyes at the grin on her face. "I was thinking about sleeping, Elizabeth."

"Right." She felt herself blushing for the third time that day. "Of course."

"I wouldn't object to whatever it is you had in your mind but I seriously don't think we're up to it. Come here."

He was already lying down when she reached him and she placed herself in his arms, head against his chest like last night, his heartbeat strong and calming.

"What if we oversleep?"

"Don't worry, I'll get you back in time for however many hours you need to get yourself ready for the party."

She snorted, lightly slapping his arm. "I didn't mean that. I don't want you to be late for the reception you're hosting."

"We won't be late."

"Hmm", she yawned, sleep already taking over her exhausted body. John kissed her hair.

"Sleep well, Lizzie."

She tensed. "John?"

He didn't reply and when she lifted her head to look at him, he was already asleep, or pretending to be, a small smile playing on his lips and she groaned, flopping her head back down. Out of all the possible abbreviations of her name he could have called her, he had chosen the one she really couldn't stand.

* * *

Elizabeth woke up alone, covered with another blanket and feeling much more refreshed than before. 

"John?"

She sat up, looking around, then spotted him with the horses, a frown in his brow and looking deep in thought. He glanced up, attention caught by her movement and walked over.

"Hey, sleepyhead. I was going to wake you up in a bit."

"How long did I sleep?"

John took a seat next to her on the blanket, rubbing her back and she instinctively leaned her head on his shoulder.

"About three hours. I woke up nearly half an hour ago."

Elizabeth yawned, deeply breathing in the scent of his skin. "What were you thinking about?"

"Hmm?" John turned his head a little to look at her.

"When I woke up. You looked like you were thinking hard about something"

"Oh." He was silent for a moment. "Nothing specific. We should probably start going back, it's getting late."

He got to his feet, pulling her up and folding the blankets. Elizabeth followed him to the horses, again fighting off the slight disappointment caused by his vague answer.

* * *

She noticed the envelope immediately after stepping into her room, recognizing the label on it as the airline she had travelled to Australia with. She stared at it for a long time before slowly tearing the envelope open. 

"Elizabeth?"

She startled at John's voice at the door and looked up to see him leaning against the doorframe.

"What's that?"

She focused her attention back to the envelope and took a deep, shaky breath.

"My return flight ticket."

He looked down for a moment. "When is it?"

"Next week." Elizabeth threw the envelope and the ticket on the bed, wanting to get them out of her hands like they were burning and walked to the window, rubbing her face. She had called the airline after the police had asked her to postpone her flight, before anything had happened between her and John, randomly choosing a date for a couple of weeks later. She really hadn't thought her life would change like this.

She heard the door close and moments later felt his hand on her shoulder, rubbing gently.

"Elizabeth, I…"

"I'm not expecting you to ask me to stay, John", she interrupted, glancing at him. "It wouldn't be fair of me to expect that."

He gently turned her around, brushing her cheek with his fingers. "If I asked you to stay, would you?"

She swallowed, searching his warm eyes. "Yes."

She wasn't sure when she had made the decision, perhaps it was in the very beginning, when she first arrived at the farm, possibly even when she had first laid eyes on this man. But no matter when the truth had dawned on her, right now there was no hesitation.

John exhaled deeply, leaning his forehead against hers. "What about your job? I don't think we'd have much use for a world-renowned diplomat here on the farm."

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "John, I've been so happy here in the past couple of weeks, despite everything that happened before. It's been a lot of work but I've really enjoyed it, much more than my real job. That should tell you something."

He lifted his head to look at her. "It tells me that you're either insane or that we have much more in common than what I thought at first."

She kissed him softly. "I think we have a lot in common, John Sheppard."

He wiped a curl of hair from her forehead. "It seems so, Elizabeth Weir."

She still sensed some hesitation in him, a slight tension in his body. "John, are you worried I might do…what Kimberly did?"

He took a deep breath and she knew she had hit the nail in the head.

"Elizabeth, this life is very different from what you're used to. It might seem ideal at first but what about when you've been here a few months, or a few years? What will happen when you get bored? Kimberly thought she could deal with it but she wanted to get out of here long before she actually met my friend. It's not easy to adapt to it after a big city."

She smiled. "It seems to be working for you."

John grinned. "And we have a lot in common."

"Exactly. But I do appreciate the warning."

He kissed her, gently at first, then with increasing passion, making her knees weak and trembling, slowly moving her towards the bed. The back of her knees met with the mattress and she tumbled on the bed, sending the envelope and travel documents flying, pulling him down with her.

John stopped kissing her to pull back and look into her eyes thoughtfully.

"Liz?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Yes, John?"

"Will you stay?"

She kissed him quickly. "If I do, we will have to discuss the nickname policy."

"What's wrong with Liz?"

Elizabeth opened her mouth to tell him exactly what was wrong with it, but realized she couldn't actually come up with anything. It even felt quite nice to have him use the name only her parents and Maria had called her: in a strange way, it was comforting.

"Okay, you can call me Liz. But no Lizzie."

"It's a deal." He lowered his lips close to hers again, not kissing her, their mouths millimetres apart.

"Will you stay?"

Elizabeth swallowed, the rush of emotion making her eyes burn with tears.

"Yes."

His eyes flashed with the same emotion she was feeling, making her a little bit dizzy but then his lips crushed hers and all coherent thoughts escaped her mind.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Almost done...Just the epilogue to go after this, that will be up later this week or next week at the latest. I hope this chapter answers any questions you may have and as always, thank you for reading and reviewing!

* * *

Elizabeth adjusted the shoulder strap of her dress and took another sip of wine, leaning back in her chair. So far, the reception had gone smoothly and even though a few pairs of eyebrows had risen when she and John had arrived downstairs together, holding hands, no one had asked her about it yet. Teyla and Carson had both given her a big smile, not seeming at all surprised and Elizabeth wondered how long they had known there was something going on between her and John. Possibly longer than she had known about it herself. 

She watched John who was in a deep conversation with Ronon and some other men Elizabeth couldn't remember the name of. He looked breathtaking in a formal suit and she was surprised at how well Ronon actually fit his – until tonight she really wouldn't have believed it. She had to admit he cleaned up very nicely and was sure the same thought had crossed Teyla's mind as well: she had caught the younger woman staring at Ronon a couple of times already and was fighting the urge to push both of them into an empty room together and lock the door. She didn't really want to interfere but it really looked like nothing would ever happen without it.

John turned his head to look into her direction and she smiled, raising her glass slightly in greeting. He returned the smile, nodding his head slightly, eyes drifting across her tanned skin and the spaghetti straps of her long flowing red dress before returning to the conversation. She hadn't been completely sure if her dress was suitable for the evening but judging by the number of compliments she had received thus far, she had nothing to worry about.

Rodney appeared seemingly out of nowhere, flopping into a chair next to her. "Having fun, Doctor Weir?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Good evening to you too, Doctor McKay. And please, it's Elizabeth."

The scientist took a sip of his drink. "I personally have to say this is not my kind of an event at all. I suppose as a diplomat, you are more used to it."

She nodded. "I am, but at some point it does get boring. Especially as the same people tend to show up each time. From that point of view this evening is refreshing."

Rodney tapped his fingers against the glass impatiently. "Well, it is the same people here as well but only once or twice a year. Once you go a few times, you'll know everybody and from then onwards, it's pure torture."

Elizabeth laughed. "Thank you for the warning, Doctor."

"I assume you are staying here now that you and John are…an item?"

Her eyebrows rose at his choice of word. "Item?"

Rodney waved his hand. "You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do, I just haven't heard that expression since high school."

The scientist made a face. "Can we not talk about that?"

She bit her lip to stop laughing. "Of course. And yes, I'm staying."

Rodney fell silent for a moment, watching John, still deep in his conversation across the room and Elizabeth eyed him carefully: John had told her that despite all the arguments, he and Rodney had become close friends and some part of her craved the scientist's acceptance of her and John's relationship.

"Ever since you came here, he's been happier than I've ever seen him", Rodney said, studying his now empty glass. "I was here when he met Kimberly, I was here when he married her and I was here when she did what she did. He was badly hurt by that."

Elizabeth nodded. "I know. But I would never do anything like that."

Rodney looked at her. "I hope you won't because that would destroy him. He loves you, Elizabeth."

She swallowed, eyes widening. "What?"

He chuckled. "I take it he hasn't told you."

"No. I…"

"He wouldn't have asked you to stay otherwise. I know him well enough, Elizabeth, but if you don't share the feeling, please don't play with him. He is a good friend and I don't want to see him go through the same ordeal twice."

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out; Rodney's little speech had stunned her enough.

"Rodney, I'm surprised to see you here." John walked to them, sitting down next to Elizabeth, picking up her hand and giving it a light squeeze. She closed her fingers around his, still silent, processing Rodney's revelation.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Well, I would rather be working but I thought I should show my face."

"And I'm glad you did. We would have missed you otherwise."

"Of course. Even though it looks like even Ronon is having a better time than I am."

"Oh, quit whining, McKay."

"I am not whining!"

Elizabeth listened to the good-natured banter of the two men quietly, slowly slipping her drink and focusing on John's hand in hers, brushing her thumb over his. He replied by squeezing her hand again and leaning closer.

"You okay?"

She nodded, finally meeting his eyes. "Yeah."

He frowned. "Sure?"

"Of course. Just getting a bit hungry."

He smiled. "Well, the dinner will be served soon."

"I for one can't wait for that", Rodney pointed out from next to her. "No matter how boring these things are, Elizabeth, you can always count on the food to blow you away. Lorraine and her little helpers really work their magic."

She grinned. "They always do."

* * *

It turned out Rodney had been right: the dinner was more than amazing and Elizabeth ate more than she had in quite a while. Patting her stomach, she finished her coffee and declined Lorraine's offer for a second helping of chocolate cake. Close to the dining table, the band was preparing to start playing and she watched as some people took to the temporary dance floor that had been formed in the middle of the large room. 

"Could I have this dance, Miss Weir?" John appeared next to her, smiling and holding out his hand. She took it and dragged herself to her feet with some effort.

"John, I ate too much, I can't move."

He grinned. "In that case, exercise will help. Come on."

She groaned but followed him to the edge of the dance floor, sighing contently as he pulled her close, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Are you having a good time?" John brushed her cheek softly, looking slightly worried. "You looked like something was bothering you before dinner."

"I'm fine, John." She smiled, leaning in to kiss him briefly. "Nothing to worry about."

He sighed. "What did Rodney say to you?"

She looked away briefly. "Nothing. He just wanted to make sure I wouldn't hurt you like Kimberly did. He's a good friend, John."

"I know." He smiled. "Though he can annoy the hell out of me sometimes."

"I'm sure he would say the same thing about you."

He feigned a hurt look. "Really?"

"Yes, John."

"Well, I suppose he has a point there." He pulled her closer, pressing a kiss on her temple and she shivered.

"Have I told you how incredible you look tonight?"

She pretended to think hard. "Not in a couple of hours."

He grinned. "Well, in that case, I'll tell you again. You look amazing."

"Thank you." She pressed her face into his neck and closed her eyes as they softly swayed with the slow music. "So do you."

* * *

The evening was drawing to a close and Elizabeth yawned, absently playing with her bracelet. Some couples were still dancing but most people were standing in small groups, chatting and sipping their drinks. She couldn't see John and assumed he was somewhere talking with the guests, either in the hall or outside in the back garden. 

"Elizabeth?" Lorraine stopped next to her, holding a tray full of champagne glasses. "I found this from the mantelpiece, I assume it's for you? I don't think we have any other Elizabeth here tonight."

Elizabeth frowned and took the envelope Lorraine was handing her, noticing it had her first name written on it.

"Thank you." She opened the envelope and looked at the note inside.

_Elizabeth,_

_Meet me at the stables._

_J_

She smiled. "Yeah, it's for me. Thank you."

Lorraine nodded. "No problem. Have a good evening."

Elizabeth walked outside, heading towards the stables and passing Ronon and Teyla who were sitting outside, both silent and looking everywhere but at each other.

"Elizabeth." Teyla smiled at her slightly. "Where are you going?"

"John told me to meet him at the stables. Is everything all right?"

"Yes, fine." Ronon replied and Teyla rolled her eyes.

"Teyla?"

The woman in question glared at Ronon and said nothing.

"What?"

"You really think everything is fine?"

He shrugged. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Teyla huffed and for a moment Elizabeth was sure she was about to slap Ronon but then the younger woman surprised the hell out of her and surely out of Ronon by grabbing his face and slamming her lips onto his.

Elizabeth's eyes widened but somehow Ronon didn't seem too shocked, pushing his hands into Teyla's light brown hair and kissing her back, long and passionately. He pulled back first, glancing at Elizabeth who had taken a few steps back towards the stables, curious at how the situation would play out but also wanting to give the two some privacy.

"Everything is fine, Elizabeth." Ronon grinned at her, then looked back at Teyla. "What the hell took you so long?"

Teyla opened her mouth, no doubt ready to argue but Ronon was faster, kissing her again and she gave in, shifting her body closer and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Elizabeth grinned, feeling ridiculously pleased she had been right about the two of them after all and quietly walked away, slipping into the main stable building where lights were on. The horses looked up at her, obviously surprised at the late night visitor.

"John? You'll never believe what I just saw."

There was no reply and she frowned. "John? Are you here?"

"I'm afraid John isn't here right now."

The words made her spin around and a feeling of dread came over her as she stared at the woman in front of her, aiming a gun right at her head.

"Karen."

"Hello, Elizabeth. So nice to see you again." Karen closed the double doors and locked them.

She swallowed. "You're alive."

"Yes, obviously. You, on the other hand, won't be for long unless you do exactly what I say."

Elizabeth took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "What do you want?"

"Turn off the lights." Karen nodded at the direction of the back wall and Elizabeth took a few careful steps back. "Nice and easy. And don't even think about trying anything."

She reached the wall and lifted a shaking hand, flipping the switch, leaving on only the soft night light, still enabling her to see clearly but now there wouldn't be any reason for anyone to come and see why the lights were on this close to midnight.

"Now, come here."

She obeyed, flinching as Karen grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around and slamming her against the door of one of the stalls. The black horse inside lifted its head and she recognized it as Jazz. Karen swiftly tied her hands behind her back.

"What will you gain by killing me, Karen?"

The other woman snorted. "I told you, do exactly like I say and we won't even have to think about that. And don't try to talk yourself out of this, I know your diplomatic tricks. They won't save you this time."

"Doesn't hurt to try." She groaned at the feeling of the rope cutting into the skin of her wrists.

Jazz had started to move restlessly in the stall, kicking the walls and she wondered if the horse sensed what was going on. Elizabeth was pretty sure Karen was planning to take her away from the farm and she knew she had to try and delay that for as long as possible.

"Why did you do it?"

"What did I just say, Elizabeth? Don't try to talk yourself out of this."

"I heard you, but I think I deserve an explanation. I want to know how you managed to convince my boyfriend to kill me, my best friend and everyone else in the company."

"Your boyfriend?" Karen scoffed. "If I had known what kind of a useless loser he was, I'd never have included him in the plan."

"What?"

The other woman sighed. "Sadly, I had to get rid of him. I really didn't think he'd change his mind like that, after all, he was quite ready to go along with things at first. I guess he did love you on some level."

Elizabeth gritted her teeth. "Who killed Maria? And the others?"

"I did. Your boyfriend had nothing to do with that."

Somewhere deep inside, she felt relieved that Simon hadn't been directly responsible for something so horrible, even though he had known about the plan beforehand. She tried very hard to control the rage that was threatening to surface, knowing that if she lost it now, she'd never have any change of walking out of this situation alive.

"Why?"

Karen shrugged. "They were the only ones who saw me and could identify me. I only joined the company right before you left Alice Springs, remember?"

"Right." It was all starting to make sense now, though there was still something that she needed an answer for.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

"Isn't that kind of obvious? You were the reason for this whole plot."

"What are you talking about?"

Karen rolled her eyes. "Do I have to spell it out for you? You work for the UN, Elizabeth, you're a diplomat known worldwide. You're friends with the President of the United States. Kidnapping you would have, and still will, pay handsomely. Too bad John Sheppard got to you before me, otherwise I'd be a rich woman by now."

"All this was for money? You killed all those innocent people for money?"

"Money rules the world, dear Lizzie. I'm sure you have come across that in your line of work."

"Don't you dare call me that", Elizabeth spit out, her face full of hatred. "You disgust me."

Karen smiled, menacingly. "Maybe you should have asked your boyfriend about his financial difficulties. I did not plan this alone."

"What financial difficulties?"

Behind her, Jazz kicked the wall with all his might, letting out a loud neigh and Elizabeth jumped, glancing at the horse over her shoulder.

"Seems like he is worried about you. Kind of sweet."

"What financial difficulties?" She repeated, determined to find out the truth.

"His private practice was as good as gone", Karen replied. "He was deep in debt and his girlfriend was pulling in a five-figure salary each month. No wonder he got a bit frustrated."

"No, I don't believe you. He would have told me if he was in trouble."

Her words were not very convincing and she suddenly realized Karen had a point. Simon had seemed more and more distant from her in the last months before the holiday, which had been one of the reasons she had booked it in the first place.

"It's _just _starting to dawn on you, isn't it? I guess it shouldn't surprise me, you obviously weren't a very loyal girlfriend. I mean he's only been dead a few weeks and you're already getting it on with another man."

Jazz neighed again, loudly and Karen gritted her teeth. "Make that horse shut up. NOW."

Elizabeth took a deep, shuddering breath and turned to Jazz, lifting a shaking hand to his neck and rubbing soothingly, even though she knew her efforts were probably fruitless: it was likely John was the only person capable of calming this horse down. Jazz seemed to believe her for a few seconds before twisting away from her and doubling his efforts at kicking, his restlessness starting to affect the other horses as well.

"Okay, time to get out of here, Elizabeth." Karen grabbed her tied wrists and she could feel the gun pressed against her back, forcing her to move towards the back door. "Move."

She obeyed grudgingly, dragging her feet, doing everything in her power to stall for as long as possible. And it paid off.

The double doors behind them burst open and both women swung around, Karen grabbing Elizabeth securely around the neck and aiming the gun right at her head. She could see fear flashing in John's eyes for the briefest of moments before it was replaced with a steely determination, both him and Ronon pointing guns at Karen.

"Let her go." John's voice was low, dangerous.

Karen laughed. "I don't think so. You already screwed up my plan once, Sheppard, it's not going to happen again. You'd better let us get out of here or I will kill your girlfriend."

Elizabeth shivered, feeling the gun on her bare skin. "If you kill me, you won't get what you want."

"Oh shut up, Elizabeth, do you think I'm really that stupid? You think I don't have a plan B? There are a lot of people in this world who would pay good money to see you dead. Maybe you didn't know that, but the truth is, whether you live or die I will get what I want."

"Not if you don't get out of here alive." Ronon sounded as dangerous as John had earlier and Elizabeth calmed down slightly: these men would not allow Karen to take her anywhere.

"If I don't, neither will she. I have a fast finger on this trigger, I would not put it to test if I were you."

John focused his eyes on Elizabeth's and she stared back, seeing all his emotions behind the coldness, seeing everything Rodney had talked about earlier. Seeing the love, love for her. And underneath it all, a question, asking for her permission to do what he was going to do.

She nodded her head the smallest movement possible and John fired his gun.

The bullet hit Karen's shoulder and in her momentary pain and disorientation, Elizabeth used her chance and pulled herself free, ducking down on the floor just as both John and Ronon pulled the trigger again. Karen fell on the floor, dropping the gun from her hand and Elizabeth kicked it as far as she could, its clattering on the floor the last sound she registered before John's strong arms were around her and she was being pulled against his body, the rope untied from her wrists.

He held her shaking form tightly, rubbing her back as she started crying. "It's all right. It's over now."

Teyla rushed to them, kneeling next to Ronon who was checking Karen's pulse. "Are you all right, Elizabeth?"

She nodded, clinging into John even tighter. "How did you…?"

"We saw John outside and he didn't know anything about meeting you here. And then Lorraine showed us the note and we heard the horses", Teyla explained, understanding what she was asking.

"She's alive", Ronon said. "What do you want to do with her?"

"Make sure she doesn't go anywhere", John said, still holding Elizabeth tightly. "And call the police."

Ronon nodded, proceeding with the first task while Teyla left to make the phone call. John pulled Elizabeth gently to her feet.

"Did she hurt you?"

She shook her head, wiping tears from her face. "No, I'm okay." She smiled though the tears. "I think Jazz saved my life. And you, once again."

John glanced at the large black horse, now calm except for the occasional swish of tail. "And you can thank both of us later. Right now, I just want to take you to the house and keep you there."

"Sounds like a good idea." Elizabeth leaned against his shoulder heavily, suddenly feeling terribly tired. The stable doors closed behind them and she breathed a sigh of relief. This ordeal was finally well and truly over.

* * *

A/N: I really wasn't thinking about The Eye when I wrote this chapter, just noticed afterwards that it was a very similar situation - funnily enough that made its way into the story. 


	11. Epilogue

It's taken exactly 7 months but this story is finally complete. Thank you all for reading and putting up with my lack of updates and above all reviewing, it's been wonderful to get your opinions on this. I hope you enjoy the epilogue, let me know what you think!

* * *

That September in New York City was unusually hot but Elizabeth couldn't help thinking it didn't really feel that bad after the Australian outback. She wiped a layer of sweat from her forehead and closed the last box filled with winter clothing, something she wouldn't really need from now on. 

"Liz?"

"I'm up here, mum." She wrote 'CLOTHES' on the box with big letters and took a deep breath, flopping down on the floor. All done.

Theresa Weir walked into the room and looked at her daughter, half sitting, half lying on the floor against the massive box. "Elizabeth?"

"I'm okay. I had forgotten how much I hate packing." She got up and wiped some dust from her denim shorts, grabbing the box and dragging it to the door where it joined three others. "I think I'm done."

"Looks like it." Her mother looked around in the bedroom, empty except for a few essential things and pieces of clothing.

"I really appreciate you and dad agreeing to store my things. I don't know what I would have done otherwise."

Her parents had driven down from Hartford to help her with packing up the apartment : she had sold it a week before. Two days after returning from Australia she had marched into the UN headquarters and quit her job, to the astonishment of her boss and her colleagues, not to mention her parents who had almost immediately jumped into the car after she had called them.

"That's all right, Liz. There's lots of room in the house."

Elizabeth glanced at her mother. "Mum, are you okay with this? I know it seems a bit…sudden."

"You're asking me whether I'm okay with my only daughter moving to Australia to live with a man I have never met?" Theresa shrugged. "Elizabeth, I trust you. I know you can take care of yourself. And you love this man, I can see it every time you talk about him. So, yeah, I'm okay with it, sweetheart."

Elizabeth smiled and hugged her mother tightly. "You'll like him once you meet him. I know you will."

"What time are you heading out to the airport?"

"In about an hour." She glanced at her watch. "We're meeting dad and Nick at the restaurant, right?"

"Yes. I hope you have warned John about the cross-examination he can expect from your father and brother."

"I tried." Elizabeth laughed. "I can't help but be a little bit happy Brian wasn't able to come. He was always the more protective one."

She and John had flown together to New York, a week after the reception and after the Australian police had finally cleared her for leaving the country and closed the case for their part. They had interviewed Karen in the hospital and she had been transferred back to the United States to wait for trial. John had gone to Seattle to see his friends for a couple of days, giving Elizabeth some time with her parents and friends before they would return to Australia. She had given the news to those close to her, explained to them what had happened and while all of them had been nothing but supportive, she couldn't help missing Maria terribly. She had visited the grave a couple of times and was slowly starting to accept the fact that her best friend of over 30 years was gone and not coming back. Meeting Maria's grief-stricken parents and fiancé had offered her some form of closure that she had missed by not being able to attend the funeral but she suspected it would take her a long time to get over the loss.

"As long as he doesn't turn out like Simon did, I'm sure I will like him", Theresa shook her head. "I can't believe he did something like that. I really didn't want to believe it."

"Mum, you never really liked Simon", Elizabeth reminded, looking around for her handbag. "And neither did dad."

"And now we all know why. There always was something weird about him…"

"Mum."

"I'm sorry, Liz. I know you loved him, at some point. But were you ever as happy as you are now?"

Elizabeth smiled softly. "No. No, I wasn't."

* * *

She drove to the airport deep in thoughts, paying more attention than usual to everything, the familiar streets and highways, all the things she was going to leave behind soon. It really was difficult to believe she was about to start a new life in another country, on the other side of the world. She had always been somewhat adventurous but this topped all her previous escapades handsomely. 

The flight from Seattle was slightly delayed and Elizabeth got herself a cup of coffee, settling in the arrivals lounge with a newspaper. She had tried her best to keep on top of politics and other issues while in Australia, when she had still been meaning to return to her job, but a lot had escaped her attention.

Deeply engrossed in the paper, she failed to notice when the plane's arrival was announced and it wasn't until a pair of strong arms were wrapped around her from behind that she was startled out of her daze.

"Hey, gorgeous. Interesting paper?" John's voice was teasing and she laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him long and passionately.

"I'm sorry", she shook her head, a little bit embarrassed. "I tend to close everything out when I'm reading. Were you looking for me?"

"Not really, spotted you pretty much right away." John adjusted the bag on his shoulder. "Are we going or do you want to keep reading?"

She grinned. "Funny."

"Thought so." He entwined his fingers with hers as they walked out of the airport building.

* * *

They had a couple of hours before dinner so she showed him around her empty apartment and they took a walk in Central Park 

"So, should I be worried about meeting your family?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "They'll give you the third degree, but other than that, I'm hoping they won't be too bad. It's just…after everything that happened, they're a little bit on edge and worried about me."

He nodded. "And now suddenly you're moving to the other side of the world. I suppose they have every right to be a bit suspicious."

She squeezed his hand. "Don't worry about it. I told them to not give you a hard time. Not too much anyway."

John grinned. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

Like she had suspected, it turned out her family liked John a great deal and by the end of the evening her father and brother were chatting with him like an old member of the family. Elizabeth's mother pulled her aside to congratulate her for finding such a wonderful man and she was sure Theresa was already hearing wedding bells in her head, not to mention the first cries of her grandchildren. Not that those thoughts hadn't crossed Elizabeth's own mind a few times lately.

They spend a couple more days in New York, tying up any loose ends Elizabeth had before leaving the country. She sold her car, introduced John to her friends and spent as much time as possible with her family; after all, she wasn't sure how often she'd be able to see them from now on. John had told her any family and friends were always welcome at the farm, but she knew it was unlikely it would happen often with everyone's busy schedules.

Her brother headed back down to Louisiana the day before they were due to fly out and Elizabeth took him to the airport in her parents' car, hugging him tightly for a long time. She had always been close to her brothers, though they were both older than her and lived quite a long distance away, Nick in Louisiana and Brian in California. She had always been the baby of the family, very protected by both her parents and her brothers and she was extremely grateful for having her family now, taking the recent events into consideration.

John met her back at the apartment, wiping some stray tears from her face and pulling her close. She clung to him tightly and silently wowed to herself to keep in touch with her family much, much more than before. Later, he took her out to dinner and they shared her favourite chocolate cake in her favourite restaurant before leisurely strolling home, Elizabeth taking in as much of her city as she could to bring with her. He kissed her on the front steps of her apartment building and whispered he loved her, for the first time. She whispered the words back to him, holding him tightly as the beautiful night darkened around them.

In the morning, she loaded her parents' car with the boxes, the last reminder of her old life and told her mother and father goodbye, tears once again streaming down her face. After the car turned around the corner, she walked around the apartment once more and called a taxi for the airport before disconnecting the phone line, locking the door and handing the keys to a neighbour who in turn would give them to the real estate agent. John squeezed her hand tightly as the car arrived and she looked at the building for one last time.

"Ready to go?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath and turned to look at him, nodding, a smile spreading on her face.

"I'm ready. Let's go home."

FIN

* * *


End file.
